Apr 14

Written by: ngreditor
4/14/2009 9:11 PM 

Chris Harris shows off his award as Entrepreneur of the Year.  Thanks go to the Community Foundation for helping Chris attend.

Farm cleanup business plan earns student honors

Kenneth Purscell

Chris Harris is a high school senior with an opportunity to go far. On April 7, he was given an award at Central Community College as Entrepreneur of the Year.

His project, Nebraska Farms Cleanup, was selected from about a dozen others in the competition. “I had to attend the entrepreneurship course at Central one Saturday each month,” he says. “I also had to write a business plan and develop a business card and brochure.”

Nebraska Farms Cleanup focuses on a problem on some local farmsteads. As some farmers retire, they find that there is some cleanup required that they are less able to do. Chris proposes that his business can take care of that.

“I can do some lawn maintenance, some tree removal,” he says. “But I can also haul away scrap metal and old equipment and appliances.”

So far he hasn’t had much business, but he hasn’t had much chance to advertise, either. “It hasn’t been the season yet,” he says.

“I did learn quite a bit from the course. They taught how to start a business, and I got to talk to a banker about my plan.” Did anything surprise him? “It takes a lot of time to start a business,” he says.

The Newman Grove senior plans to attend Northeast Community College after graduation, studying to become an electrician. “I don’t want to climb the poles,” he said, “but I do want to do wiring in homes.”

Copyright ©2009 Newman Grove Reporter