Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour encourages young adults to start businesses

WATSONVILLE -- Sergio Rocha owns Click-In Computers, a growing electronics
service provider he started in 2005 at the age of 20.

The workforce investment boards of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties brought
the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour to the fairgrounds in Watsonville on Wednesday
in hopes that young people will follow Rocha's example.

The event was meant to show local youth that they can head their own small
business as an alternative to seeking employment. According to speakers and
organizers at the event, all it takes is the right idea combined with free,
local resources and support.

"We started thinking about the poor jobs market and thought, Rather than
finding jobs for people, let's create people who can create jobs,' " said
Loyanne Flinn de Guaracha, acting executive director of the Monterey County
Workforce Investment Board.

The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce,
holds 50 youth-oriented events a year featuring energetic presentations by
successful under-30 entrepreneurs.

The speakers strive to motivate young adults to create business ideas
centered on their passions and then to identify local programs and resources
that can help make the business a reality.

"We want to light that fire and give them the push to these programs," said
Michael Simmons, who founded Princeton WebSolutions at 16 and is a co-founder of
the tour.

"There are a lot of amazing opportunities just in thisarea," said Flinn, citing the work of Marina Technology Cluster, Cabrillo
College's Small Business Development Center and ALBA, which supports small scale
organic agriculture businesses.

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