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By Kym Reinstadler | MiBiz
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David Gonzalez successfully launched two businesses after taking part in the Generation EI program. COURTESY PHOTO

BATTLE CREEK — At age 19, David Gonzalez has already launched two successful businesses, one because he’s a fast talker and the other for people who can’t talk.

The native of Coldwater started David Joseph Auctions, which conducts benefit auctions for charitable groups when he was a high school junior. A year later, he started Pocket Picture Books to help people with disabilities communicate.

“Young people have really great ideas, but they have no idea how to make a business out of them,” said Gonzalez, now a first-year student at Kalamazoo Community College. “I would not have, either.”

What gave Gonzalez an edge was his involvement in Generation E Institute, a Battle Creek-based nonprofit group that offers entrepreneurial education and consulting services for students in middle school and high school. Both his businesses grew out of GenEI lessons in a marketing program at Branch Area Career Center.

“We hope to empower young people with an ‘If you can dream it, you can do it’ mentality,” said Cheryl Peters executive director of GenEI. A former teacher, Peters developed the curricula eight years ago with funding from the Chicago-based Coleman Foundation.

The program is a sound economic development tool that encourages community members to treat young people as assets whose fortunes will assure that each community will survive and thrive, Peters said.

Today, GenEI runs versions of the curriculum in 31 Michigan counties, plus communities in northern Indiana and Illinois. The group has certified 225 entrepreneurial educators who teach the curriculum, and fundraising is underway to train new leaders in Muskegon County. Institutions and organizations in Kent and Ottawa counties are also considering it, Peters said.

GenEI provides a hands-on business experience similar to Junior Achievement. GenEI challenges young people to work individually or in limited partnerships to sample every step of building a business, Peters said. Community volunteers from similar businesses come alongside to advise and encourage.

Business ventures vary with the age and interests of the young participants. GenEI’s annual spring show features businesses producing products ranging from handmade jewelry, hair bows and bandannas to keychains, cookies and candy grams.

The program has proven a catalyst for young people who have an entrepreneurial bent but need help channeling passions and refining ideas.

For budding auctioneer and publisher Gonzalez, the entrepreneur gene came directly. His family owns an auctioneering business that specializes in selling rides and other equipment from amusement parks and carnivals. While he grew up in the family business, Gonzalez also obtained formal training, becoming one of the youngest people to graduate from the renowned Reppert Auction School in Indianapolis.

Gonzalez went into business himself as David Joseph Auctions – instead of joining the family business – because he needed to stay in the Battle Creek area while he is in school. He’s conducted benefit auctions for youth groups, sports teams and animal rescue programs. Gonzalez said he lands a lot of gigs through networking with GenEI supporters in the community.

With the auctioneering business doing well, Gonzalez came up with an idea for a second business his senior year. Family ties provided inspiration again, but in a different way.

Gonzalez has a seven-year-old brother named Xander, who has autism. Like many others with the disorder, Xander struggles with verbal communication. He uses pictures developed by the Picture Exchange Communication System to help him express needs. The pages are kept in an 8-inch by 10-inch binder.

The trouble is that the binder is bulky for a young child to carry, Gonzalez said.

Using spiral-bound, 3-inch by 5-inch index cards, Gonzalez developed a series of Pocket Picture Books combining illustrations, signs and words that help people with disabilities communicate.

Gonzalez was confident Xander would like the small flip books, but he said he was surprised at how enthused teachers, caregivers and members of the business community were when he presented the idea at GenEI’s annual showcase.

Gonzalez is developing a website to sell Pocket Picture Books and is looking into patent protection. He’s also decided to earmark a portion of future earnings to Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for autism.

Young innovators like Gonzalez can be a beacon for others, Peters said.

“People tell me they want to live in communities where innovative young people like David live,” Peters said. “It’s obvious they are going to make opportunities.”

Peters said today’s young people are willing to work hard, but they are less interested in working inside corporate hierarchies. Many prefer the flexibility of operating a company over the Internet to running traditional brick-and-mortar businesses.

GenEI programs look a little different in each location because community mentors help build “business incubators” from their own strengths, Peters said.

Some high schools offer GenEI as a for-credit semester class, which can be counted for credit at some area community colleges. Some youth clubs run it as a summer camp.

Schools and organizations pay $400 to have a staff member go through a two-day training. About 225 people have been certified as GenEI teachers since the program began in 2004. GenEI has reached more than 6,000 people between the ages of 10 and 26, Peters said.

Several ventures launched during GenEI continued after the official curriculum ended. At least six youth-run companies sought LLC status in 2011, Peters said.

One of the longest running GenEI start-ups is Upston Lawn and Garden in Battle Creek. Tyler Upston launched the business during a GenEI class in 2006. He kept it going while earning a bachelor’s degree in business at Western Michigan University and an associate’s degree in landscape design at Lansing Community College.

Upston now employs 13 people during the growing season doing lawn care and six people in the winter doing snow removal.

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• battle creek
• david joseph auctions
• genei