POCATELLO — Local children from as young as 4 and as old as 17 will be participating in an entrepreneurial market next week at the Mountain View Event Center, selling various goods and wares to local residents.
From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on May 16 at the Mountain View Event Center, located at 1567 Way to Grace Ave. in Pocatello, everyone in the community is invited to participate in a craft-fair style marketplace where children across all of Pocatello and nearby areas including Inkom will be selling their various goods and services.
“This is our second year doing the kids entrepreneur market,” said Mattea Landon, the founder of Pocatello Roots LLC. “Our goal with the market was to provide an opportunity for kids to learn business skills, as well as show their creative sides. I feel like kids are seen as sometimes a nuisance unless they have something to offer. We wanted the community to see that kids have a lot of great ideas, and that they can be a great part of our community and our society if we utilize their skills and teach them so that they can learn.”
She continued, “Not only did kids get to share their own ideas, but they can learn some skills about money management and budgeting and how to create something and grow something.”
Landon is a Pocatello native who left to Phoenix, Arizona, before relocating back to the Gate City. Her desire to start Pocatello Roots stemmed from a passion to bring new and exciting events that were successful in bigger cities and bring those opportunities to the quaint mountain valley that she and many others call home.
“When it was time for me to raise my family, I wanted to be back in Pocatello,” Landon said. “I wanted to help community members feel like they can build roots within the community and that can be starting and growing a business or supporting other people who are growing a business, as well as just advertising and understanding what our community has to offer.”
Landon continued, “One of the things that I noticed when I’ve lived in bigger cities was that sometimes there were different events that we don’t offer in Pocatello. I wanted to try to bring different markets and events that maybe other cities offer that are beneficial and I wanted to bring that here.”
The Kids Entrepreneur Market is now in its second year, providing a perfect platform for children with creative talents or skills to showcase everything they can offer to the community. Focusing on autonomy, parents have been asked to be present at the event but not to participate in the booths that the kids have set up, encouraging the young entrepreneurs to run their own shops.
“It’ll be set up like a market so people can walk around see what the kids have made, see what’s available and just kind of shop around like you would at a market.” Landon said.
In previous years, children have sold various arts and crafts, books, pet treats along with baked goods or classic drinks like lemonade. A few of the more experienced vendors that have aged out of the program sold wares like custom sewed bucket hats or sweet candy confections that were previously available at spaces like the local farmer’s market.
“This is a great opportunity to support kids in our community,” Landon said. “It’s a good way to validate them even if their business isn’t necessarily the best idea. Hopefully, the community can rally around this and see the benefit of it.”
She continued, “It’s been really exciting to see the kids’ response as we’ve marketed and as the parents have reached out on behalf of the kids. So many have said, ‘my kids are so excited.’ They want to have an opportunity to showcase their talents and skills. We really just want the community to come support that so that those kids have the opportunity to have good interactions and practice communication skills as well as be validated in their projects.”
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