WEST HARTFORD — Over 100 of the town’s youngest innovators and entrepreneurs will gather on Oct. 14 to sell their homemade wares at the NextGen Innovators market.
“The idea is that it was always going to be for the community and for the kids,” said Laura Barash, a West Hartford resident and the nonprofit’s founder. “It was a for-profit and we called it the Pop-Up Kids Market, but it really wasn’t an appropriate categorization, because it’s not just kids, it’s teens. It’s about budding entrepreneurs under the age of 18.”
And the name change, Barash said, falls more in line with what she wants the event to be all about: celebrating the creativity, passion and entrepreneurial spirit of the market’s young businesspeople.
“The name is more broad and it better represents these young people,” Barash said. “They are the next generation of innovators. They’re not just children. They’re going to make changes now and in the future.”
Shoppers at the 2022 innovators market, which was held in Blue Back Square. This year’s event, which will feature over 100 vendors, will shift over to the town hall parking lot.
Contributed photo / Laura Barash
Olivia Chambers, a 15-year-old West Hartford resident who is a sophomore at the Watkinson School, is one of those innovators. After taking sewing classes at Hartford Stitch in West Hartford, Chambers decided she was getting good enough at her craft that she could start selling what she was making and attended her first market when she was in sixth grade. She’s since expanded her work to jewelry and is returning this year for her third market appearance.
“It’s given me better interpersonal skills,” Chambers said about the experience of planning for a market, where she has personal interactions with prospective shoppers. “I’m talking to people and explaining my products and showing them what I’m making. It also makes me proud of what I’m able to do and what I’ve learned and taught myself. It’s a really good experience to have.”
Chambers said there’s a level of gratification when someone wants to spend their money on something she made by hand.
“It feels good,” Chambers said. “It feels validating almost.”
The roughly 110 vendors who will attend the market and sell their own items — which will range from dog treats to candles to baked goods — are free to do whatever they want with their money. But in true innovator form, Barash said, a lot of the young businesspeople decide to donate some or all of their money to other causes. Chambers donates half of her profits to the Crosby Fund for Haitian Education, which she was introduced to while she was a student at Morley Elementary School.
Sophia Chen and Rey Pant, both seniors at Conard High School, will be selling jewelry and crocheted items the two friends make together for the first time at the market. Encouraged by their art teacher to participate, Chen and Pant will be hoping to earn money that will benefit their school’s National Art Honor Society.
“Making things that I would wear boosts my own confidence,” Chen said. “It’s rewarding to see your own creation being worn, either by myself or by someone else.”
Rey Pant (left) and Sophia Chen, both seniors at Conard High School, will be selling their handmade wares at the West Hartford NextGen Innovators market on Oct. 14.
Michael Walsh / Hearst Connecticut Media
Barash said the ultimate goal is for their young participants to work independently to run their booths, problem solve and discover what it takes to run your own business.
“Some of the kids earn their own money and they want to spend it and it’s a great thing because for once they’re independent,” Barash said. “They can spend it how they want and they can learn the value of a dollar. Some of them want to reinvest it and they want to buy more supplies so they can have a bigger inventory. And then some want to give back. It’s theirs. They earn all the money and they can choose what to do with it. That makes it really special.”
This year’s NextGen Innovators market will be held on Oct. 14 in the town hall parking lot from 11:30 am. to 2:30 p.m.. A rain date is set for Oct. 15 from 3 to 6 p.m.
2023-10-06 09:03:57
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