Attracting visitors to Alexandra and keeping them here was the underlying theme for year ten Dunstan students developing their own business ideas as part of a Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) day.

YES head of feeder programmes Paul Newsom took the students through the business design process and assisted them to further refine their concepts. 

Wellington based Paul Newsom from YES also calls his role with the organisation a ‘curator of curiosity’

The students had to present their work to a panel consisting of Central Otago District Council (CODC) economic development manager Nick Lanham, principal Reece Goldsmith and Central App managing director Vicki McLean

The panel asked probing questions and provided feedback on business ideas.

Nick said he thoroughly enjoyed the presentations and was impressed with the business ideas pupils developed in very little time - just one school day.

“What impressed me the most was how they accurately identified a gap in the market and combined the solution with an Alexandra flavour to make it a truly unique product or experience. I left the event fuelled with optimism in our next generation of entrepreneurs.”

There were some innovative ideas pitched, including a mini golf course, a virtual reality experience and escape room, and a trampoline park. 

One group proposed the idea of a truck stop offering "a taste of home" for truckers and another aimed to use technology to create scavenger hunts around Alexandra. 

YES is an opportunity for senior secondary students to unleash their inner entrepreneur and experience the start-up world first-hand.

It is led by the Young Enterprise Trust who work with primary and secondary schools to foster these skills and attributes from a young age.

The trust has been operating since the early 1980s and works with more than 50,000 students a year.