Storm Lake students learn business skills at spring market, sell homemade goods

Storm Lake teenagers turned The Bridge’s youth cafe into a working marketplace, selling homemade tamales, cake pops, chocolate-covered strawberries and crab rangoons while practicing the basics of business in front of real customers.

The spring market last Saturday at 529 Seneca St. gave students a chance to do more than display goods. It forced them to price items, arrange tables, explain their products and adjust on the fly, the same skills they would need in a small shop or at a weekend vendor event. For Kurenai Phimsen, that meant bringing together friends, a little income and family know-how. Her table included cake pops, chocolate-covered strawberries and crab rangoons, a recipe she learned after her mother picked up the dish when China House closed. In a county where 30.8% of residents are Hispanic or Latino and 36.5% speak a language other than English at home, that kind of food-based family tradition fits naturally into the local economy and culture.

Storm Lake High seniors Syomara Perez and Marlyne Magaña also used the market to test their own ideas. Perez sold homemade tamales, chocolate flan and sweet empanadas and said baking is her passion, even though she plans to become a nurse. She hopes baking can stay a side business. Magaña said the event helped students learn how to market products, set prices and handle customer service, lessons that matter whether they end up working for someone else or building a business of their own.

Alice Henrici, the CEO and executive director of The Bridge of Storm Lake, said the point is to show teens that work leads to money while giving them a place to build confidence. The market was held in the renovated Endless Sea Coffee space, where students can gather after school from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The Bridge has described the space as a safe, welcoming place with free snacks and beverages for sale, and it has used the site for youth programming, homework time and public events.

The spring market also built on The Bridge’s broader youth work. Earlier reporting said the Treehouse program served 67 high school students and 37 middle school students, along with six support groups and four Bible study groups. Other young vendors, including Storm Lake High freshman Tati Calles and Briana Marroquin, sold sweets under the name The Munchies and have already begun building a following through social media and catering. For a community of 11,269 in Storm Lake and 20,823 in Buena Vista County, the market doubled as economic training and proof that local talent can turn a coffee-shop corner into a first step toward entrepreneurship.