Alexis Oliver is the kind of person who looks at a bottle cap and thinks of jewelry.
The 16-year-old Buchholz High School student dreams of turning her fashion-conscious approach to recycling into a flourishing business where she can take old clothes, add new materials and create one-of-a-kind garments.
She stood in front a panel of representatives from local businesses Wednesday night to pitch this idea with a PowerPoint presentation and a confident smile. "I think I have a really different idea," she said.
Oliver, along with six other Buchholz students, took part in the inaugural venture of Growing Entrepreneurs, a program that brings together Santa Fe College's Center for Innovation and Economic Development and local private equity firm Energent Ventures.
Six students, with one team of two, brought five business proposals to the downtown center in hopes of securing $500, training and mentorship to get their businesses going.
The students are in the Academy of Entrepreneurship, a magnet program at Buchholz.
The program seeks to foster an entrepreneurial spirit in Gainesville area students, a spirit that Dug Jones, Santa Fe's assistant vice president for economic development, says is already prevalent in the city.
"This is the right kind of place for an innovation community," Jones said.
