Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club "Grow Your Own Business Challenge" Announces Finalists!

NEW YORK, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the NYSE celebration of Financial Capabilities Week, last years' Secret Millionaires Club 'Grow Your Own Business Challenge' Grand Prize Winner, Aria Eppinger helped ring the closing bell at the NYSE and announced this year's Finalists. Almost 4,000 kids ages 7 to 16 entered their creative business ideas to the competition for a chance to win the grand prize of $5,000 and an opportunity to present their ideas to Warren Buffett.

The Secret Millionaires Club is an animated series created by A2 Entertainment airing on The HUB Network and with online webisodes, featuring the voice of Warren Buffett as a mentor to a group of kids as they learn important financial and entrepreneurial lessons.

The "Grow Your Own Business Challenge" is a part of the Secret Millionaires Club Learn and Earn financial literacy promotion which is sponsored by the Fairholme Foundation and reaches over 100,000 classrooms with tools and lessons for teaching good financial habits to youth. By Kids For Kids Co (BKFK) administered the challenge and CEO/Founder, Norm Goldstein joined Aria on the podium at the NYSE for the bell ringing.  The program is a national online competition that ran from December 5, 2012 to February 15, 2013. Five individuals and three team finalists will be flown to Omaha, NE in May to present their winning ideas to Mr. Buffett and a panel of VIP judges.  One Grand Prize individual and one Grand Prize team will each be awarded $5,000. The runners up will each receive $500.  Each of the finalist teams and individuals will be able to nominate a teacher or mentor who was most inspirational to join them in Omaha. 

Following are the Secret Millionaires Club "Grow Your Own Business Challenge" finalists:

Individual Finalists:
Max, 16 - Natick, MA
Business Idea: Bedbug Exposing Device (BBED)

Krissa, 11 – Savage, MD
Business Idea: Cupcakes for Literacy

Fabian, 15 - Conroe, TX
Business Idea: H2O Saltwater to Freshwater as You Pedal

Alexis, 16 – Colts Neck, NJ
Business Idea: PAPA (Pool Accident Prevention Association)

Matthew, 9 – Cincinnati, OH
Business Idea: Right-Writer

Team Finalists
Business Idea: Food & Family = F2
Molly, 13 - Willoughby Hills, OH
Michael, 13 - Willoughby, OH
Charles, 12 - Kirtland, OH
Austin, 13 - Painesville, OH

Business Idea: Kidtreprenuer Kits
Sawyer, 10 - Liberty, KY
Kennedy, 13 - Lexington, KY
Spencer, 16 - Lexington, KY

Business Idea: WiNWiN Products
Clarissa, 10 - Seattle, WA
Esai, 10 - Seattle, WA

"These kids truly embody the American spirit," says Andy Heyward, co-president A2 Entertainment.  "We received so many original and smart ideas. It is amazing to see how inspired kids are by the program.  We are looking forward to hearing their presentations to Mr. Buffett in Omaha."

Beginning May 6 and running through May 13, you can help choose the "Grow Your Own Business Challenge" winners by voting for their favorite idea at: www.smckids.com/vote.

For more information, visit www.smckids.com
Secret Millionaires Club Copyright ^© 2011 A Squared Entertainment

About A Squared Entertainment LLC
A Squared Entertainment (A2) creates, produces, acquires and distributes digital kids' entertainment in all formats across all channels. Headquartered in Los Angeles, A2 is managed by Co-Presidents Andy Heyward and Amy Moynihan Heyward. Among current brands include, lessons in business with Warren Buffett in "Secret Millionaires Club", "Stan Lee and the Mighty Seven", the latest superhero creation from Stan Lee, and the brand management and licensing for Build-a-Bear Workshop.

About Fairholme Foundation
The Fairholme Foundation invests in under-valued paths to improving education. Our key: Ignore the crowd by circumventing long-standing roadblocks to progress. The Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization solely funded by Fairholme Capital Management and its affiliates. 

About By Kids For Kids
By Kids for Kids^® (BKFK^®) is a platform that empowers youth invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. BKFK promotes youth social innovation and partners with leading corporations to inspire product development, crucial technology skills, invention, and innovation in young people from 8 to 22. BKFK provides a unique platform for young people to develop, showcase, and commercialize their products, inventions and entrepreneurship. BKFK's "cycle of innovation" develops critical 21st Century skills in our nation's youth. The company provides educational resources — curriculum and challenges that promote social change, product development and entrepreneurial endeavors. Learn more: www.bkfk.com.

Media Contact:
For BKFK: Judy Klym | 203-921-9039 | [email protected]

SOURCE By Kids For Kids