Southern Pines, NC | April 5, 2022
The Teen Entrepreneur Network (TEN), funded by Sandhills Cooperation Association (SCA) and led by Core Team member Kim Wade, is a summer jobs program that provides marginalized youth in Moore County with entrepreneurial and employment skills. The program employs 35 youth in West Southern Pines and surrounding Moore County communities.
The TEN program has been successful in helping its participants to find success in their field of interest. The program’s focus on hands-on entrepreneurial and employment skills has helped its participants to stand out among their peers. The program has also been successful in beautifying the Black Business community with the Urban Flower Container Garden Street-Scape that many of its participants have maintained.
Participants, such as Tanner Barber and D’Zire Malloy, have gone on to be recognized for their outstanding work in the community. Tanner Barber, a rising junior at Pinecrest High School, is the first teen in the Teen Entrepreneur Network (TEN) to be recognized as an outstanding honor student by his school district. D’Zire Malloy is another success story of the TEN program. In 2022, she launched her own media campaign as a teen entrepreneur. With the help of TEN, Malloy was able to gain the skills and experience she needed to start her own business.
The business sponsors and residents look forward to the assistance this program affords our youth in our neighborhood every summer. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or would like to learn more about the TEN program, please visit our website at sandhillscooperation.org.