According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “small businesses employ nearly half of the American workforce and represent 43.5% of America’s GDP” (US Chamber of Commerce, 2025).   Small businesses are critical for providing employment opportunities and generating revenue in small town USA.  Therefore, programs like the University of Kentucky’s American Private Enterprise Systems (A.P.E.S.) helps to provide invaluable experiences for youth to explore entrepreneurship and business concepts.  As a result of this program, youth get the chance to discover career opportunities and grow an appreciation for small and large businesses in their communities.  

Allen County 4-H Youth Development Program is one of the longest running American Private Enterprise Systems Programs in the state of Kentucky, having just celebrated their 53^rd year of the program.  The 2024 fall program impacted 33 youth, 30 of which were Junior students from ACSHS and 3 of which were returning Senior Leaders.  Over the course of three days, participants heard from speakers about numerous aspects of business ranging from: How America is Organized to Do Business, How our Economy Works, The Role of Government in our Economy as well as various Frameworks for Business Structure.  

Not only did the participants get to network and learn from local leaders, they also had the opportunity to explore both small and large businesses in the Allen County Area.   These businesses represented various sectors ranging from healthcare in hospitals to restaurants, boutiques to farm machinery stores, marketing to accounting and a multitude of areas in between.  Through the implementation of business tours, guest speakers and small business meet and greets, the 2024 A.P.E.S. Program connected our 33 youth participants with over 40 community business leaders, local government officials and business owners in Allen County. 

In a culminating team task, youth presented their newly developed business plans, business name, marketing and growth plans, logos, and business strategies to compete for the “battle of the businesses” competition where one team was selected as the champion business plan.  

The mission of the American Private Enterprise Systems Program is “Developing Business and Community Leaders for Tomorrow” (American Private Enterprise Systems Program, 2019).   At the conclusion of the 2024 A.P.E.S Program, youth were surveyed to gauge the impact of the program.  

Results of the evaluation revealed that participants planned to use this information to make career choice selections, add the A.P.E.S. experience to their resume and learn about businesses in their communities. One participant said, “while I am still debating on what I want to do, this helps me know I have more options for work.”  Over half of the participants indicated an interest in starting a business in the future, as a result of participating in the APES Program.  

 When asked, “what is one valuable piece of information that you learned,” one youth responded: “Each form of business is very different in how they develop and what they do in communities. I learned more about the different businesses in Scottsville, many that I wouldn’t have normally went to.”

 At the end of the evaluation youth were asked, “would you recommend the APES Program to a fellow classmate, why or why not?”  Of the 28 respondents, 100% of youth indicated that yes, they would recommend the APES Program to a fellow student.  One student highlighted their experience by saying, “Yes, because it’s a good experience and helps to introduce parts of business not taught in school and gives input from actual business owners.”

 Finally in conclusion of the program, youth were awarded for their participation with a certificate, each received a complementary savings account certificate at a local bank, in addition to scholarship and prize money.  In total, over $3,000.00 in scholarships and prizes were distributed to participants to use for future college and career plans. 

Youth participants engage in a "Skeleton Island" activity which demonstrates various economic principals such as: supply vs. demand, limited resources and price control.