Sanford event gives young entrepreneurs chance to sell, learn business

Twenty-two young vendors will turn a corner of downtown Sanford into a one-day business lesson Saturday, as Future Entrepreneurs of Sanford fills the Celery City Craft Courtyard with children and teens selling goods they made or produced themselves.

The sold-out event runs from noon to 4 p.m. May 16 at 114 S. Palmetto Avenue and is limited to youth 16 and under. What looks like a family-friendly market is also a hands-on introduction to the basics of entrepreneurship, giving participants a chance to set prices, talk to customers, manage inventory and make their first sales in public.

The idea grew out of Jennifer Wofford watching her 11-year-old daughter, Sadie, build bead and cotton candy businesses of her own. A friend suggested that children like Sadie needed a real venue to try selling, and that turned into a downtown showcase built around young vendors instead of a typical craft fair. The goal is simple: let children practice the work that sits behind every small business, from presentation to persistence.

That matters in Sanford, where downtown life and local businesses are part of the city’s identity. Celery City Craft sits in a space that nods to Sanford’s celery-farming past, and the courtyard setting ties the market to Historic Downtown Sanford rather than to a school gym or suburban parking lot. The timing also lands in the middle of an active downtown calendar, with other city events and meetings filling out May around the same area.

For shoppers and business owners, the event is more than a chance to buy cookies, crafts or handmade items. It is an early investment in the city’s next generation of entrepreneurs, the kind that can build confidence before a child ever opens a formal business account or files a permit. Each sale gives a young vendor practice in customer service and a small measure of resilience, especially when a table sits quiet or a pitch needs work.

Seminole County already points startups and small businesses toward resources that help after those first lessons: its business resources page, the UCF Business Incubation Program, SCORE Orlando’s free mentoring and Seminole County 4-H Youth Development for ages 5 to 18. Future Entrepreneurs of Sanford fits into that broader pipeline, starting children earlier and showing them what it takes to sell, learn and keep going.