Is American Canyon boring? ACHS seniors have ideas
According to American Canyon High School seniors, the city is a little boring. It needs a good date spot. Or at least a spot to hang out.
“We go to Starbucks,” said Lauren Ranada, sitting at a table in a classroom in Building D.
“Whenever we want to have fun we go to Concord or Walnut Creek,” Leilani Nguyen agreed.
The two had just presented at ACHS’s second shark tank-style business pitch week on Nov. 18 and 19, where seniors proposed business ventures based on the prompt: “What can we do to make American Canyon better?”
Turns out the answer is — a lot. Seniors took this as an opportunity to envision ways to bring community together.
Ranada’s and Nguyen’s group pitched a marketplace for artists called Curated Avenue, which aims to support local creatives and bring tourism to the city.
“You over there!” yelled a group member into the audience. “Do you know any artisan markets in AC?”
“No, I don’t think so,” he responded. “Opening a store like this will be an opportunity for small creators to expand their work.”
The shark tank-inspired contest is called NexGen Business Initiative, an eight-week program that ends with the competition. It’s coordinated by Scott Marsden, the school’s economics and world history teacher, in collaboration with the American Canyon Chamber of Commerce.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, ACHS’s 410 seniors presented 103 business ideas to a formidable panel of five judges, which this year included Valerie Zizak-Morais from the chamber; American Canyon Planning Commissioner Marilyn Abelon; Financial Director Jen Cruz; Redwood Credit Union Branch Manager Gladys Milligan and Neil Thomas from Stravinski Development Group, which builds warehouses in the area.
Several projects — The Den, The Big Bang — are entertainment hubs with movies, arcades and restaurants. Two were drive-in movie theaters, Stargaze and Sunset Canyon Drive-In.
One group went the practical route: Janelle Mejia, TJ Aquino and Jovi Sorahan presented an electric bike shop called American Canyon E-Wheels, inspired by the plentiful e-bike stations in San Francisco.
“American Canyon has a lot of businesses, but it’s really hard to get around. And the increasing costs of fuel … it only makes the cost of Ubers go up,” said Aquino. “This can really help smaller businesses get more attention.”
“We have tons of students walking to Safeway or the wetlands to hang out,” said Mejia after the presentation. Plus, she said, for women, an e-bike comes in handy to avoid walking alone on the streets at night.
Drake’s 2018 single “Elevate” played from Ayja Q.’s phone as her group walked up to present their plan: Elevate Athletics. The group of five pitched a workout gym that doubles as a community space.
“We have football turf, basketball courts, and many other ways to train and recover,” said one student.
Elevate’s startup costs came out to $1,250,229 — seems high, but students found it was the standard amount for starting up a business these days. Most businesses students pitched had over $1 million in startup costs.
“Choose your fit with Elevate!” all five said in unison.
A number of business ideas weren’t technically doable. “It’s not always about the money, right?” said one student in a group pitching an internet cafe. Between lofty overhead costs and the lack of local tourism, it can’t be about the money.
“Every senior has to take gov econ,” said Elizabeth Goff from the Chamber of Commerce. “So, we made it a program for all 12 of the classes.”
Goff, who also judged the competition, said that students wouldn’t be required to ensure their business was profitable — that presenting a good idea and explaining why it wouldn’t work financially is just as illuminating for students.
“We also wanted to show them why we might not have some businesses here,” in American Canyon, she said.
The winning business was High Note Karaoke, which smartly combined elements of the other businesses: creativity, community space and entertainment. Fingers crossed it becomes real!
