Hundreds of young CEOs make their pitches, make their deals, at the fourth annual Lemonade Day Junior Market in downtown Vancouver

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

Hundreds of young entrepreneurs gave their greetings, made their pitches, and executed their transactions Saturday at Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver.

They were there to work the Greater Vancouver Chamber’s fourth annual Lemonade Day Junior Market, a celebration of young business minds.

More than 250 young CEOs set up more than 180 booths for the event. The market opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that featured Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle and Tim Clevenger, chief marketing officer at OnPoint Credit Union, the “main squeeze” sponsor of the Junior Market and Lemonade Day.

Janet Kenefsky, chief operating officer for the Greater Vancouver Chamber and city director for Lemonade Day Greater Vancouver, was the master of ceremonies. 

“We’re preparing our future workforce, we’re preparing our future community,” Kenefsky said. “A lot of them are here for the second or third time, which tells us … they go back, they prepare, they come back stronger, they have better marketing, they have better products.”

Each participant was part of the Chamber’s My Lemonade Day program, where they learned critical business skills like budgeting, customer service, marketing, and giving back to the community. 

There are more than 1,700 young people who have taken Lemonade Day lessons throughout Southwest Washington. One local school district adopted Lemonade Day curriculum, introducing youth to entrepreneurship.

The hundreds who set up their “shops” at the Junior Market were assured of thousands of potential customers. The Junior Market was conveniently located right next to the popular Vancouver Farmers Market.

The young CEOs sold products they made or ideas they came up with, including artwork, jewelry, woodwork, organically grown produce, magic tricks, and more. Participants were to submit their business results at the end of the day for the chance to be recognized as Southwest Washington’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year.