2018 Entrepreneurial Scholarship Award

Posted March 25th, 2018

This year Northwest Illinois Economic Development offered our first-ever Build it • Grow it Entrepreneurial Scholarship for high school seniors from Jo Daviess, Carroll & Whiteside counties. The $1,000 scholarship AND free business consulting with Brian McIntyre, our small business expert, is intended for students interested in becoming entrepreneurs. We received excellent applications and selected three finalists. We wish to thank our volunteer judges for their service on this inaugural project: Warren Dorn, Helen Schamberger, Sara Purdom and Randy Boonstra. Our 2018 Entrepreneurial Scholarship winner is… Madelyn Walters.

Miss Walters started a business selling cupcakes at the local farmers market at the age of 10, then at 13, along with her mom and two sisters, opened Three Sisters Sweet Shoppe in Elizabeth. While being an entrepreneur she has also been actively involved in multiple school activities. Upon graduation Miss Walters is planning on majoring in Economics with the hopes of attending the Weinberg School of Economics at Northwestern University. She is considering using the award money for increasing and expanding products in the cupcake shop, as well as improving the store signage. Congratualtions!