Children curing poverty...... and influencing the world!

Lickity Split Chocolate is a new Native owned and operated business that is thriving. Although this may not be surprising (after all who doesn’t like chocolate), consider the fact that Lickity Split is managed by 25 Navajo and Ute children between the ages of 8 and 15 in one of the poorest counties in the United States and it’s easy to see this business as an extraordinary commercial venture.

Recently these youth and their AmeriCorp VISTA coach completed a $3,000 order for a large Utah utility association. The customer was delighted with the chocolate and, thanks to the strong support of Senator Bob Bennett, the future looks bright for this tiny business enterprise. With a business contact made at Utah’s Rural Economic Development Conference sponsored by Senator Bennett, Lickity Split received recognition as an emerging small rural business. A major contract with a billion dollar corporation resulted with the expectation that Lickity Split will double in sales starting with the current holiday season and continue to expand by breaking into a national, and perhaps worldwide market. Can the kids pull it off? "Of course we can we are only limited by our imagination," says 15-year old Lickity Split CEO, Andrew Dayish who is already recruiting new youthful talent to brace for the anticipated growth.

So how did this youth-owned and managed business evolve and how does it operate? According to VISTA Member, Elaine Borgen, the business began when a group of children came to her home looking for a way to make money to go to the local movie house. Elaine suggested they start a business so they could afford to go to the movies whenever they wished, buy bicycles, computers, phones and Internet service. The kids liked the idea and after a lot of discussion and brain-storming, decided they would start a chocolate business where they would make Native design chocolates. The idea and technology took some time to develop, but once the group discovered a way to make inexpensive yet unique chocolate molds, the customers quickly appeared. Several parents were asked to serve as the legal company owners and Lickity Split, a profit-making Limited Liability Company, was born with a mission that was limited to little more than a desire to earn movie tickets. The children manage the business on Saturdays. They hold principal managerial and board positions, make key decisions and develop policy—all with a minimum of adult guidance and supervision. A Lickity Split retail store is being planned to be built in Summer 2006.

Lickity Split operates with sponsorship from a non-profit economic development foundation, Legacy CDC. They receive business training and support from the Small Business Development Center. Since the youth are not allowed to participate in the chocolate business without a sustainable grade point average of at least 2.5, community volunteers tutor them in their school studies. Thanks to a VISTA supported program called Utah Tech Corp, each Lickity Split youth was given a computer to help with their schoolwork. Tutoring takes place two days per week and the children are excelling as much in their studies are they are in their business.

The best part of Lickity Split is the development the youth have shown. They are highly motivated to make this business succeed and in the process they have become competent business professionals. They create new products, make customer contacts, conduct staff meetings, attend trade shows and even balance the company books. Ask any one of them what goes into pricing a product and they will calculate the cost of labor, materials and overhead for you. The company owners are being taught to fully operate the business after a yearlong mentoring process.

As Elaine Borgen says, "It’s great to look back several years and see these kids who spent hours watching TV and playing computer games now working up a strategic business plan, conducting staff meetings, developing a website and meeting with top business and government officials."

The youth live in San Juan County where poverty rates reach upwards of 40 percent. Their home is located in a beautiful but vast, remote, area where good jobs are scarce. Native owned businesses within the county consist of less than 1 percent of the established commercial industry inventory, yet the Native population is greater than 50 percent. Lickity Split Chocolate Studio offers hope that the future success of these young entrepreneurs and the prosperity of San Juan County will be shaped by the industriousness shown by these youngsters and the continuing success of this unusual chocolate factory.