Cherokee Student Entrepreneurs to Pitch Live at Canton Theatre in March

SUBHEAD: The FLEX Cherokee finals bring the county's top young business minds to a historic downtown stage for a public competition.

BYLINE: Woodstock Wire Staff

SOURCE: [Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce](https://cherokeega.org/news/flex-cherokee-finals-top-three-student-run-businesses-to-pitch-live-at-the-historic-canton-theatre/)

Three of Cherokee County's top student entrepreneurs will take the stage at the historic Canton Theatre on March 19 to pitch their real, student-run businesses to a live audience, and anyone in the community is invited to watch.

The event is the finals competition for FLEX Cherokee, a program run by the Cherokee Office of Economic Development that stands for Foundational Leadership & Entrepreneur X-perience. The finalists, four students pictured in promotional materials, including one wearing a Creekview High School shirt, earned their spots by advancing through earlier rounds of competition before earning a shot at the main stage.

The finals begin at 6 p.m. at the Canton Theatre, the century-old downtown venue that has become a gathering point for community events across Cherokee County. The public setting raises the stakes considerably from a classroom exercise to something closer to the real thing.

The Cherokee Office of Economic Development is encouraging families, educators, business leaders, and the broader community to attend and support the young competitors. It's the kind of event that puts Cherokee County's investment in youth entrepreneurship on full display, and gives the finalists an audience that extends well beyond their teachers and peers.

For the students on that stage, March 19 won't just be a school project. It'll be their first real pitch.