The Covington Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to allocate $5,000 to establish a new youth-focused entrepreneurship lab through the Covington Works program.
“When I was reading this, I was pretty excited,” said Covington Commissioner James Toebbe last week.
Covington Works itself was established in 2023 to build out the city’s workforce following an agreement between the Northern Kentucky Workforce Investment Board, which manages the local office of the Kentucky Career Center, and the city. The new program will also partner with the Kenton County Public Library and Northern Kentucky University.
The new youth lab will recruit mostly high school juniors, seniors and young adults within the city. Mentors and coaches from the business and professional sectors will work with them to introduce basic concepts and skills for running a business. Youth participants will also develop a business plan.
“Participants will engage in a phased experience beginning with entrepreneurship and idea development training … followed by a multi-week entrepreneurship lab focused on business planning, customer validation, branding, financial literacy, marketing and pitch development,” according to the program proposal. You can read the full program proposal here.
The program is expected to incur $8,225, according to city documents. Costs not covered by the city will be covered by the library and NKU. The program is expected to take place in the fall of this year and the winter of next year.
