It’s 2008, and Jordan Keck is in his junior year of high school. He’s into music, martial arts, and loves taking pictures around Lincoln County where he lives. At just seventeen, Jordan Keck also exemplifies the best of rural Oregon’s entrepreneurial spirit. Jordan took advantage of opportunities for young entrepreneurs provided by the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), based out of Oregon Coast Community College (OCCC) in Lincoln County, and now this seventeen-year-old is a new small business owner.
 

As a sophomore at Career Tech High School, a small public charter school in Lincoln City, Jordan began learning the skills and making the connections that would lead him to his first small business venture. The school provided him with access to music and video recording equipment, and some teachers encouraged Keck to consider starting a business in the sound recording studio. He rejected the idea because he didn’t have a strong interest in sound recording, but his interest in video grew, as did his opportunities for entrepreneurship. “I guess the real thing that set me off to start my own business was learning the software Final Cut Pro. I was very knowledgeable about it, I loved making movies.” The timing was right for Jordan, because just as his skills and interest in making movies was growing, a representative from the Small Business Development Center, Justin Overdevest, came to Career Tech in search of a student who could make a promotional DVD for a school-based enterprise, the Kayak Shack. Career Tech’s vice principal set up Overdevest with Jordan, and the Small Business Development Center commissioned his first piece of work.

Not only did Jordan get his first paying gig making movies, he also made a valuable connection with Justin Overdevest. “Justin’s been the biggest push along the way for me to get more involved with entrepreneurship,” says Jordan. At the time, Justin Overdevest was an AmeriCorps volunteer with Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE), and worked at the Small Business Development Center with the Connecting Oregon through Rural Entrepreneurship (CORE) program to assist new and existing businesses in Lincoln County. The SBDC focuses on five main areas: adult entrepreneurship, social enterprise, farmers and artisans, green sustainable projects, and youth entrepreneurship. “We’ve done a lot of work with youth,” says Overdevest, “the timing is right in Lincoln County.” In addition to the student-run business, the Kayak Shack, the SBDC works with local schools to provide business curriculum, by sending teachers to conferences on youth entrepreneurship and providing other educational events. The opportunities provided by Overdevest and the SBDC have been invaluable for youth entrepreneurs in Lincoln County.

In summer 2008 the SBDC sent twelve students to the Young Entrepreneurs Business Week (YEBW), a conference that brings high school students together on a college campus for one week to compete to run a small business. The 12 participants from Lincoln County were the only youth at YEBW from outside the Portland metro area, and the rural students took home three awards, including outstanding team member, top female participant, and the title of top male participant, which went to Jordan Keck. “My team started out with nine students, two dropped out, and I ended up winning top male participant,” says Jordan. “That gave me the spark I needed to start off on my own.” Jordan returned from the week with the award, a $200 board game called Cash Flow, which he donated to his school, and the inspiration to continue in business.

The next fall, Keck was given another opportunity to increase his entrepreneurial capacity: he received a scholarship to attend the annual Regards to Rural conference as a youth delegate from Lincoln County. Jordan engaged in this learning opportunity with the same fervor he had put into YEBW. “I would see him in the halls at the conference,” says Overdevest, “and he would always be networking with adults and youth alike trying to learn anything he could from them.” Jordan maintains that his growth through these opportunities provided by SBDC shows the important influence youth entrepreneurship programs can play in creating new, local small businesses. “YEBW helped me to think a lot about money management and networking. My teachers have helped by encouraging me along the way, and I am renting some of the equipment I use in my business from the school. Justin has helped me a lot in helping me to get scholarships for both YEBW and the R2R conference, helping to get my name out there, and soon I will be taking a NxLeveL business course offered through Oregon Coast Community College.”

After Regards to Rural, Jordan kept his promise to launch his own business. He won his first contract to produce the CORE promotional DVD, and has plans to create a movie for his sister’s wedding. “All things considered, I am just getting started in my business and there is still a lot that I will learn. I will make mistakes, but I know that if I waited until I was absolutely positive I would never make a mistake in my business, then I would never have started a business. I am very excited to see what the future has to offer.”