Happy New Year to all of our friends, partners, and supporters! In our second year of local operations, BUILD Metro DC is serving close to 100 DC students from the Maya Angelou Public Charter School and Dunbar High School and we have successfully launched our Youth Business and Academic Incubator at 14th and K Sts. NW. 2010 promises to be an exciting and rewarding year for all of us at BUILD Metro DC, and we’ve already jumped into the action.

On January 21st, BUILD Metro DC held our first-ever Winter Sales Bazaar. At the event, five of our six teams officially brought their products and services to market and began making their first sales – with our last team not too far behind. This year’s lineup includes two t-shirt companies, fragrant oils and home scents, dog-grooming services, creative socks and accessories, and eco-friendly shopping bags. Students engaged in a sales contest for most persuasive sales pitch and best team booth, with prizes for the winners. We are looking forward to hosting selling events at partner companies in February and March, then selling at Eastern Market in April -- culminating in a big selling showcase during the annual business plan competition we host for our 9th-graders.

Please mark your calendars: This year’s Business Plan Competition will take place on Saturday, May 22nd, from 1pm-4pm at the George Washington University School of Business.

Additionally, we have an exciting new pro-bono project with the Corporate Executive Board, through corporate-service program facilitator ServiceCorps; it will center on helping us maximize marketing and branding opportunities for this year’s Competition!

We are always looking for people who are excited about contributing to BUILD’s mission. In this newsletter, you’ll find information about the newest team member we are seeking: the National Capital Region Executive Director. There are also many ways to volunteer with BUILD, so please be in touch via build_dc@build.org if you’d like to get involved.

As we look ahead to an action-packed new year, let me take this opportunity to thank you for your support of BUILD Metro DC. We’ve achieved great things already, and many more successes are on the horizon.

Yours,

Ajuah Helton
East Coast Regional Program Director
Chief Program Officer