Take advantage of these activities which can help you develop your business idea and business skills!
Scholarship Opportunities
South Dakota Retailers Association Scholarship – The South Dakota Retailers Association scholarship program provides assistance to students studying for a career in retail and hospitality businesses, whether as an owner, manager, or employee. Completed applications should be submitted no later than April 15, 2025. For more information on this scholarship opportunity click here!
Dacotah Bank Scholarship – Dacotah Bank is excited to continue supporting students with its annual scholarship program. This year, Dacotah Bank will award one outstanding high school graduate a top scholarship of $10,000. In addition, twenty-nine individual scholarships of $2,000 each will be distributed across Dacotah Bank’s market areas, which span three states: South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Detailed criteria for scholarship selection can be found in the application. To view all the requirements of this scholarship click here.
Agtegra Scholarship – The 2025 scholarship application period will open on October 1, 2024! Check out Agtegra’s website here for more information.
First Bank and Trust Community Scholarship – First Bank & Trust will annually award scholarships to students attending accredited colleges, universities, or technical schools in the fall. Scholarships will be awarded at $1,000 each, and the number of scholarships awarded will vary by location. The deadline to apply for this scholarship is March 28, 2025. Click here to apply today!
Dakota State University – Business plan competition for high school students. Application deadline is March 11th, 2025 by 5:00 PM. The Competition will take place on March 28th, 2025 at DSU. For more information contact Brenda.Merkel@dsu.edu for more 2025 details.
Build South Dakota Scholarship – The Build South Dakota Scholarship Application is open from January 1, 2025 through March 31, 2025. This scholarship is open to any students who are planning on attending a tech school. For the full list of scholarships that are available click here!
Other Opportunities
Local organizations including the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and SCORE offer small business education events throughout the year. To learn more about the current offering, visit the SBDC website
Career and Technical Student Organizations – many include entrepreneurship topics as part of their state competitions typically held in March/April. Such organizations include DECA, FCCLA, FBLA, FFA, and Skills USA. If you don’t have any of these in your high school, ask your principal about starting a chapter!
Invent 2 Innovate (i2i) Student Competition –business model competition with a high school and college division. Entry deadline is March 10, 2024. There will be a live virtual competition on Friday, April 5, 2024. Click here to view the website for the competition.
SD Fast Launch – designed to assist South Dakota entrepreneurs and small businesses with beginning and expanding their business through the South Dakota Giant Vision Competition and SBIR/STTR funding. Here are the links to their website and flier.
Congressional App Challenge – A free national digital app competition open to high school and middle school students in SD. Any coding program can be used and there is no restrictions on type of app. They have resources to learn to code and are accepting entries from all skill levels. Learn more here at their website! https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/ The deadline to register is now open! Click here to register: Registration open for 2025
VentureLab Spark Startup ESTEAM Mentorship & Materials Program– VentureLab’s ESTEAM Mentorship and Materials Program provides youth ages 8-18 with 1-1 mentor support for four months and up to $500 in materials to help start or scale their business. Fall cohort applications are due by: August 21st. Register at: https://venturelab.org/venturelab-spark/
Institute of Competition Sciences (ICS)– The Institute of Competition Sciences has been defining best-practices in competition strategy, design, and operations since its founding in 2012. We aim to create an international system of high educational motivation, engagement, and impact through academic competition. https://www.competitionsciences.org/about/
Other Opportunities
Take advantage of these activities which can help you develop your business idea and business skills!
Scholarship Opportunities
South Dakota Retailers Association Scholarship – The South Dakota Retailers Association scholarship program provides assistance to students studying for a career in retail and hospitality businesses, whether as an owner, manager, or employee. Completed applications should be submitted no later than April 15, 2025. For more information on this scholarship opportunity click here!
Dacotah Bank Scholarship – Dacotah Bank is excited to continue supporting students with its annual scholarship program. This year, Dacotah Bank will award one outstanding high school graduate a top scholarship of $10,000. In addition, twenty-nine individual scholarships of $2,000 each will be distributed across Dacotah Bank’s market areas, which span three states: South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Detailed criteria for scholarship selection can be found in the application. To view all the requirements of this scholarship click here.
Agtegra Scholarship – The 2025 scholarship application period will open on October 1, 2024! Check out Agtegra’s website here for more information.
First Bank and Trust Community Scholarship – First Bank & Trust will annually award scholarships to students attending accredited colleges, universities, or technical schools in the fall. Scholarships will be awarded at $1,000 each, and the number of scholarships awarded will vary by location. The deadline to apply for this scholarship is March 28, 2025. Click here to apply today!
Dakota State University – Business plan competition for high school students. Application deadline is March 11th, 2025 by 5:00 PM. The Competition will take place on March 28th, 2025 at DSU. For more information contact Brenda.Merkel@dsu.edu for more 2025 details.
Build South Dakota Scholarship – The Build South Dakota Scholarship Application is open from January 1, 2025 through March 31, 2025. This scholarship is open to any students who are planning on attending a tech school. For the full list of scholarships that are available click here!
Other Opportunities
Local organizations including the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and SCORE offer small business education events throughout the year. To learn more about the current offering, visit the SBDC website
Career and Technical Student Organizations – many include entrepreneurship topics as part of their state competitions typically held in March/April. Such organizations include DECA, FCCLA, FBLA, FFA, and Skills USA. If you don’t have any of these in your high school, ask your principal about starting a chapter!
Invent 2 Innovate (i2i) Student Competition –business model competition with a high school and college division. Entry deadline is March 10, 2024. There will be a live virtual competition on Friday, April 5, 2024. Click here to view the website for the competition.
SD Fast Launch – designed to assist South Dakota entrepreneurs and small businesses with beginning and expanding their business through the South Dakota Giant Vision Competition and SBIR/STTR funding. Here are the links to their website and flier.
Congressional App Challenge – A free national digital app competition open to high school and middle school students in SD. Any coding program can be used and there is no restrictions on type of app. They have resources to learn to code and are accepting entries from all skill levels. Learn more here at their website! https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/ The deadline to register is now open! Click here to register: Registration open for 2025
VentureLab Spark Startup ESTEAM Mentorship & Materials Program– VentureLab’s ESTEAM Mentorship and Materials Program provides youth ages 8-18 with 1-1 mentor support for four months and up to $500 in materials to help start or scale their business. Fall cohort applications are due by: August 21st. Register at: https://venturelab.org/venturelab-spark/
Institute of Competition Sciences (ICS)– The Institute of Competition Sciences has been defining best-practices in competition strategy, design, and operations since its founding in 2012. We aim to create an international system of high educational motivation, engagement, and impact through academic competition. https://www.competitionsciences.org/about/
