The Children’s Business Fair is coming to Buffalo for the first time this summer to promote youth innovation, ingenuity and entrepreneurship as participants display and sell self-made products and services.

Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition (ECRJC), in conjunction with the Acton Children Business Fair organization, will host the event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on August 11 at the Adams Mark Hotel in downtown Buffalo. The event will provide youth ages 5 to 18 from throughout the area with the opportunity to showcase their products and will allow the community a first look at some of Western New York’s future entrepreneurs.  There is a registration fee of $5.00 per youth for those hoping to sell at the Fair, otherwise the event is free to the public.  Deadline for registration is July 30, 2018

Buffalo entrepreneur Zandra Cunningham, the 17-year-old founder of Zandra Beauty who started her first business at age 9, will host the event. Special guests and youth also will judge participants by age group on the viability and marketing of their businesses.

“We hope that through launching this fair in Buffalo, we can help change the narrative of how we see youth in this community, “says Brandy Loveland, Director of Community Engagement at Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition. “Buffalo is growing, so it’s time we build our social capital and begin to nurture our youth, so that they grow it into the future.”

Since 2006, the Acton Children’s Business Fair organization has aided in launching international fairs that help young entrepreneurs make business dreams possible, such as Mikaila Ulmer, who is the daughter of a Buffalo native and CEO of Me and The Bees Lemonade. Since launching her business at the fair, Ulmer received $60,000 from Shark Tank and now at age 10 sells BeeSweet Lemonade at Whole Foods markets in her hometown of Austin, Texas.

For more information and/or to register your youth for the event, please email bloveland@ecrjc.org, or visit the sites childrensbusinessfair.org and www.ecrjc.org/childrensbusinessfair