BUTLER TWP — Innovations made to products like tea bags, plumbing and chewing gum someday could be invented by young business leaders from Butler County.

The Entrepreneurship Academy at Butler County Community College has 13 high school seniors in its new-to-the-county program funded by a state grant and run by Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV.

“It's a good opportunity to learn things that you wouldn't learn in school,” said Hannah Carlino, a Knoch High School student who aspires to study marketing in college next year.

The hands-on, STEAM-based entrepreneurship program is meant to give students the opportunity to see local and regional business resources while building their own portfolio of knowledge, said Anthony Conti, a trainer and data analyst at MIU IV who organized the program. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

“The real goal is building business in the community, and growing the community,” he said. “This is a great place to start a business.”

The 13 students from Butler, Knoch, Mars, Moniteau, Seneca Valley and Slippery Rock high schools meet each afternoon at BC3. They can earn up to 15 college credits by the end of the school year: six credits through the program and nine credits from three other classes that students had the option to take in speech, marketing and psychology.

Students can transfer those credits to another college or continue toward receiving an entrepreneurship certificate at BC3.

During the program, they've been working with product ideas, team building exercises and critical thinking skills that make many entrepreneurs successful.

“I did it for a head start because I plan on going to college for business and entrepreneurship,” said Shane Slater, a Slippery Rock High School student, about being in the program.

“So I was like, this is perfect. It would be cool if I came up with a business plan before I went to college.”

He enjoys focusing on technology-based innovations to fuel his product ideas.

While Slater and most students didn't want to divulge details of initial product ideas relating to items such as tea bags, chewing gum and hair care, they've been developing products through small group activities, working with peers to find ways to market, to make the product profitable, and other aspects of the business.

But not everything takes place in the classroom.

Students also use BC3's machine technology laboratory once a week located in the classroom next door to use the laser cutter, 3-D printer, milling machine and other state-of-the-art tools.

They also will take trips once or twice a month. Christen Dunn, program instructor with MIU IV, said they recently visited Butler Technologies.

They also have plans to visit Thrill Mill, a startup business incubator in Pittsburgh, and the Youngstown Business Incubator, a similar organization in Youngstown, Ohio.

As the school year progresses, Dunn said she hopes to organize the class more based on students' interests. She's encouraging her students to find businesses and products they hope to emulate.

“What makes them effective, innovative, profitable?” she asked.

Students have varied interests as to why they enrolled in the Entrepreneurship Academy. Katie Liebler, a Butler High School student, said she wants to work in hospitality management based on her work experience at Jellystone Park at Kozy Rest in Harrisville.

“I'm always running around with the little kids. I'm co-activities director. I've been there for three years so I just have a love for it,” she said. “It's so much fun to me.”

She hopes to do vacation and activity planning.

Meanwhile, Matt Walter, a Knoch High School student, wants to follow his father's footsteps. He does contracting work.

“My dad never went to school for business or anything like that. He just kind of opened it up and it took off after that.

“But I don't know, I like being in charge of stuff, like being captain of sports and stuff like that,” he said.

He also wants to open a woodworking shop. He's built cabinets and furniture.

Over the summer, he built his sister a table from a tree at her first home for a personalized wedding gift.

“One of the guys I showed the picture to actually offered me a grand to build him one,” he said.

While Walter didn't take up his friend on the offer, it made him realize there's a demand for those kinds of skills.

The other students in the program are Emily Kristoff, Hayley Mercer and Rebecca Turner of Seneca Valley High School; Luca Lemnij of Slippery Rock High School; Austin Martin, Mark Sotomayer and Renee Stearns of Knoch High School; Casey Pulaski of Moniteau High School; and Zachary Sichler of Mars High School.

By the end of the school year, Dunn said all students will have a fully developed business plan written for each of their ideas, reviewed by a panel of business leaders. The winning team of students will receive a cash prize to build their potential startup.

The MIU IV is in its second year running an Entrepreneurship Academy in Mercer County where there are 22 high school seniors this year.