Congratulations are in order! The 2009 OppenheimerFunds/NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge was held in New York City on Wednesday, October 7th. This year, 28 students representing 27 businesses from all across the United States competed in grueling quarter-and semi-final rounds in the morning and afternoon, from which three finalists went on to present their business plans to a panel of distinguished judges and invited guests.

Scott Paiva, 18 of New Bedford, MA won third place with his business, Express Tax Services, and will take home $2,500.00. Coming in second and winning $5,000.00 was 17-year-old fashion designer Zoë Damacela of Chicago, IL with her business Zoë Damacela Apparel. Finally, the grand prize of $10,000.00 and the first place title went to 17-year old Kalief Rollins of Carson, California, with his business Phree Kountry Clothing.

Click here to learn more about our winners and the other competitors: http://www.nfte.com/nyec/2009/ . 

At the awards ceremony on Wednesday, NFTE President and CEO Amy Rosen announced to the three finalists that they have been invited to go to Washington, DC on October 19th to meet President Obama at the White House. You can imagine their surprise and excitement - so join us in wishing them lots of luck!

To see the video produced by Crain's Chicago business, go to http://lunchlearning.com/2009/08/09/we-can-all-learn-from-17-year-old-entrepreneur-zoe-damacela/ .