ENTERPRISE — The Mentor Match Teen Entrepreneur program will kick off its new year Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. with an introductory meeting at Building Healthy Families, 207 NE Park St., in Enterprise.

Open to all county juniors and seniors, the program guides teens as they create their own for-profit businesses.

Since 2010, the program has helped over 100 local teens gain skills in entrepreneurship, as well as communication, financial planning, time management and organization, self-motivation and goal-setting. The one-hour introductory meeting will include free pizza, and the chance for teens to ask questions before they decide if the program is right for them.

Throughout the program, which meets every other Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. from September to April, teens are shown how to start their own for-profit ventures, using the resources they have available to them.

“The teens are always surprised to learn how many options they have to create a successful business,” said Stacy Green, the program’s creator and adviser of the program. “It doesn’t matter how old they are, what kind of student they are, or if they have any money. They learn they can create something.”

The mission of the program, according to Green, is to introduce more teens to entrepreneurship and business as a career/educational path, so they can come back to the county and create economic opportunity for themselves and others. Currently, nearly 30% of past participants are back in the county, most working in the business community.

Two past participants have launched their own businesses in the county: Shelby Graning Eggart started Roots Salon and Silje Christoffersen started Steep Creek Studio, specializing in graphic design and illustration.

For more information, contact adviser Stacy Green at 541-398-2314.