A nonprofit group named the ACC Capital Foundation has announced a $6.2 million plan to help students and adults in Arkansas learn how to start their own businesses. The five-year program will help people learn about business from fifth grade all the way through adulthood. Read more below.

The organization will spend about $1.24 million each year over the next five years. Instead of just hosting a few contests, the group plans to offer activities and learning programs all year long across the state.

For more than 20 years, the group has run two main student contests: the Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase (YES Competition) for younger students and the Governor’s Cup for college students. The college contest began in 2001 and has given out more than $3 million in prizes to help students practice sharing their business ideas with leaders.

Under the new plan, the group is working with Economics Arkansas to create a new contest just for high school students. That contest is planned to start during the 2027–2028 school year so high schoolers can keep building their business skills after elementary and middle school.

The foundation is also creating another new contest for adults and community members who are not in school. This program will focus on helping people turn their ideas into real companies and find money to start them.

ACC Capital is a private, nonprofit special project finance company formed in 1957 by Winthrop Rockefeller and other business leaders in Arkansas.

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