Kimmswick Young Entrepreneur Fair Gives Local Kids a Chance to Turn Creativity Into Business

Visitors to Kimmswick on Saturday, Sept. 26, will have the opportunity to do more than pick up handmade jewelry, baked goods or a new treat for the family dog. Every purchase at the Young Entrepreneur Arts & Crafts Fair will also support a young person learning what it takes to turn an idea, talent, or hobby into a business.

The annual event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout Kimmswick’s business district, with the two primary gathering areas at Veterans Memorial Park and City Hall Park. Additional young vendors will be located along Market Street, Elm Street and Mill Street.

Now in its sixth year, the fair was created specifically to give children and teenagers firsthand experience with entrepreneurship. From making a product and setting up a booth to interacting with customers and discovering that running a business comes with both exciting moments and disappointing ones.

For Dawn Scott, secretary of the Kimmswick Merchant Association and one of the organizers behind the event, those lessons are exactly what make the fair worthwhile.

“These young entrepreneurs, they’re our future for small businesses.” Scott said. “It gives them a chance to see how a business actually operates.”

Nearly 50 Booths and More Than 60 Young Entrepreneurs

Scott said this year’s fair is expected to include 48 booths representing more than 60 children and teenagers.

Some booths are shared by siblings or best friends, while others represent groups such as Girl Scout troops. The event is intentionally kept around 50 booths so it remains manageable within downtown Kimmswick while still providing plenty for visitors to see.

Interest in the event has grown considerably since its first year, when approximately 28 young entrepreneurs participated. Scott said more than half of the participants now return from previous years, meaning organizers no longer have to do much advertising just to attract young vendors.

For some participants, the fair has become an annual part of growing their own small businesses.

Scott recalled one young entrepreneur who has participated since the event's first year. Now 17, she began by selling homemade dog treats and donating part of the proceeds to a nonprofit.

“She’s really grown her business,” Scott said, adding that the young entrepreneur continued participating year after year rather than treating it as a one-time activity.

From Crochet Animals to Books, Honey and Dog Treats

Visitors should expect considerable variety as they walk through this year's booths.

Scott said young vendors will be selling homemade dog treats, jewelry, earrings, crocheted items, handmade stuffed animals, artwork, baked goods, drinks, honey and other handmade creations.

Crocheted creations have become particularly popular.

“The crocheting is insane,” Scott said. “These kids, they make all these cute little animals.”

Some participants have developed skills that might surprise shoppers.

Scott said the fair has previously included 12-year-old authors who have written and illustrated their own books, while other young entrepreneurs have developed businesses around everything from leatherwork to food products. One participating family operates a farm, allowing their children to sell products such as honey while learning about a business they have been involved with from an early age.

Learning What Running a Business Really Feels Like

While earning money is part of the experience, Scott said the purpose of the fair goes much further.

Young entrepreneurs have to prepare their products, set up their booths, talk with potential customers and experience the uncertainty that comes with trying to sell something they created themselves.

Sometimes that means excitement when the first customer makes a purchase. Other times, it means learning that not everyone who walks past a booth is going to buy something.

“They get to see disappointment. They get excitement. They get all the feels,” Scott said. “of what a true business owner actually goes through, all the setting up, all the hard work that goes into it.”

Those lessons fit naturally into Kimmswick, a community whose downtown is built around independent shops, restaurants, makers, and other locally owned businesses.

Scott said the established business community can also help young entrepreneurs understand some of the challenges that come with operating a business.

Participants pay a $25 booth fee, and Scott said the event awards cash prizes in multiple places across two age divisions, ages 5 through 12 and ages 13 and older, with much of what the event collects going back toward the participating young entrepreneurs.

A Reason to Shop Local

The young entrepreneurs aren't limited to Kimmswick or even Jefferson County.

Scott said participants travel from other communities to take part, bringing families into Kimmswick who may not otherwise have visited the town.

That makes Saturday an opportunity to support both the children behind the booths and the larger idea of keeping locally made products and small businesses alive.

For Scott, simply showing up and walking through the booths matters.

“I just think it’s really important that people get off the internet and shop where they can actually see things in person,” Scott said, “and to keep it alive, otherwise we’re all going to be stuck ordering from our screens.”

For visitors, that could mean going home with a bag of homemade dog treats, a crocheted animal, a piece of jewelry, a jar of honey or something they never expected to find.

For the young person standing behind the table, however, that purchase can mean considerably more. It is a customer choosing something they created, recognizing value in a skill they have developed and giving them another reason to keep working at it.

The Kimmswick Young Entrepreneur Arts & Crafts Fair will be held Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout Kimmswick’s business district, with the largest groups of booths around Veterans Memorial Park and City Hall Park.

And with nearly 50 booths to explore, visitors have plenty of opportunities to come out, shop local and show Jefferson County’s youngest entrepreneurs that their creativity and their businesses are worth supporting.

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