A year ago, Steven Silva sat in the audience, listening to a panel of entrepreneurs as part of Junior Achievement’s Business Week in Denver.
This year, he was on the panel.
“Junior Achievement helped me overcome the mental beliefs and barriers of starting a business at my age,” said Silva, 18, speaking Thursday to 150 JA campmates from high schools in the Denver area. “Your youth is your power.”
Silva started Suave Screen Printing, a Denver T-shirt silk-screening company, with Justin Roberts, 19, after participating in Business Week last year.
Starting off with donated silk-screening equipment, the two work out of the basement of Roberts’ home. They work up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, Silva said.
Both Silva and Roberts graduated from high school this year and are planning to attend college: Silva at the University of Denver and Roberts at Metropolitan State College.
JA’s Business Week, which ends today, is being held at Johnson & Wales University in Denver. Junior Achievement is a nationwide group, with headquarters in Colorado Springs, dedicated to educating youth about business.
Also on the panel with Silva were: Lyndon Hanson, co-founder of Boulder-based Crocs footwear; Brian DeHaven, co-founder of Thrifty Stick, a chain of stores in Denver that sells reconditioned snowboards and skateboards; and Heather Gallien, president of Idee-Force, an interactive marketing company in Denver.
Staff writer Marcus W. Vanderberg can be reached at 303-820-1209 or mvanderberg@denverpost.com.
