Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal online daily

The training room at Digital Hands was the site Friday of a group of temporary stores for the firm’s annual “Young Entrepreneur Program.” Eleven school-aged youngsters signed up for the program, which teaches the basics of entrepreneurship by providing the opportunity for them to set up storefronts in Digital Hands’ headquarters in Tampa and sell products and services to the employees and each other.

The stores included in the three-hour sales event were Ice Cream King, Courtney’s & Nicky’s World’s Yummiest Dessert, Your Destiny Recycled, A Brush of Joy - Inspirational Watercolor Paintings, Candyland, Yaya’s Craftapalooza II and Scrumdiddliumcious Sweets.

Imaginative names for young companies also enticed customers on Thursday to Tampa's Nuccio Park Biz Kids program supported by Suncoast School Federal Credit Union and WEDU. Student businesses produced in the six-week summer program included Handy Dandy Snack Shack, Nuccio Snack City, Pop It Off with Popcorn, The Kandy Kages and The Ice Shak.

The goal is to continue operating these businesses beyond the summer program, a release from Suncoast Schools said. Each young entrepreneur at Digital Hands received a kit with tips on naming their businesses, taking pre-orders and distributing marketing material. It also included cost analysis worksheets to prompt examination of expenses.

Charlotte Baker, Digital Hands chief executive officer, started the program four years ago and plans to expand the event next year. She envisions a community-wide program. “We have a lot of ideas on how to enrich the program in the years to come,” Baker said in a release.

Digital Hands is an outsourced IT provider specializing in call center help desk support, monitoring and management of IT infrastructure, and custom solutions.