The University of Toledo
06/25/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/25/2026 08:01
Teen Entrepreneurs Develop, Pitch T-Shirt Businesses at Neff College of Business
Teen Entrepreneurs Develop, Pitch T-Shirt Businesses at Neff College of Business
Nearly 40 young entrepreneurs learned what it takes to start and run a successful business this week at The University of Toledo's John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation.
The RISE Into Business summer enrichment camp brought teams of high school students to campus from Monday, June 22, to Wednesday, June 24. Participants explored marketing, finance, accounting and other core business skills as they developed their own business plans to support the sale of the T-shirts that they designed on their first day at UToledo.
The camp culminated in pitch competition, in which teams presented their business plans to a "Shark Tank"-style panel of faculty and community business leaders including UToledo President James Holloway.
RISE Into Business reflects both the entrepreneurial and experiential learning that are championed by the Neff College of Business, where students are encouraged to pursue their business ideas with the support of faculty and the UToledo Business Incubator.
Approximately 85% of students supplement classroom instruction with workforce experience by completing an internship before graduation.
From left, high school students Shia Carey (Toledo School for the Arts), Jayla Gover (St. Ursula) and Solomon Alexander (Jones Leadership Academy of Business) present their business plans for selling T-shirts to a "Shark Tank"-style panel Wednesday afternoon at The RISE Into Business summer enrichment camp.
The "Shark Tank"-style panel featured, from left, UToledo President James Holloway, Provost Mitchell S. McKinney and Dr. Susan Shultz, a senior lecturer in the Department of Marketing and International Business. The three-day, on-campus RISE Into Business summer enrichment camp provided high school students hands-on opportunities to explore marketing, finance, accounting and other core business skills.
The University of Toledo published this content on June 25, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 25, 2026 at 14:01 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]