January 9, 2024
K-State 105 Brings NetWork Kansas, K-State Research and Extension Together to Build Up Statewide Youth Entrepreneurship Program
MANHATTAN AND ANDOVER — Two K-State 105 partners — NetWork Kansas and K-State Research and Extension — are collaborating to bring the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge to new heights as one of the leading youth entrepreneurship competitions in the state of Kansas.
A first-of-its-kind commitment from K-State Research and Extension and Kansas 4-H will fully fund the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge, or KEC, which is a program of the NetWork Kansas Entrepreneurship (E)-Community Partnership. The contribution involves nearly $100,000 in program support for KEC per year for three consecutive years, beginning with the current 2023-24 competition year.
"A next-generation land-grant university is invested in the future, and that is exactly what we are doing as we partner with NetWork Kansas to build up the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge," said Gregg Hadley, Kansas State University assistant vice president and director for extension. "Young entrepreneurs are the future of economic prosperity in Kansas, and it's a natural fit for K-State Research and Extension to support a program that builds on youth development in all 105 counties in Kansas."
The Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge represents the culmination of a sequence of community-based entrepreneurship competitions for students in grades 6-12, known as the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, or YEC, series.
NetWork Kansas, a statewide entrepreneurial organization, coordinates the YEC series and KEC in partnership with the Center for the Advancement of Entrepreneurship in the K-State College of Business Administration. The 2023-24 competition year marks the 11th annual YEC season.