North Omaha youth program sparks entrepreneurial dreams

North Omaha Youth Program Inspires Next Generation of EntrepreneursAt 65th and Ames, the Omaha 360 Youth Program is doing more than keeping teens busy—it’s building the next wave of entrepreneurs, with a goal of bringing more businesses into North Omaha by 2030.This past summer, Trevaugn Grant spent his days learning the ropes at Authentic Auto in North Omaha.“I just started seeing cars on TikTok left and right… so I ended up going to ChatGPT looking at different kinds of engines… and getting into that kind of research… and then I just kinda fell in love,” Grant said.What started as an internship quickly grew into a passion. He says that after coming back again and again, he became more interested in the mechanic industry. Still, his favorite part of the job is detailing.“I couldn’t get into cars… without knowing what’s inside a car, or how [they] operate outside of just driving it,” he said.Grant shadowed shop owner Damien Goode, who welcomed the young interns into his garage.“They just helped out, they learned stuff, we worked on their cars… we showed them engines, we let them take engines apart, I taught them briefly how to weld… we had them doing a little bit of everything,” Goode said.When the internship ended, Goode said Grant wasn’t ready to stop.“Tre just kept calling like, ‘Hey what’s up, I wanna come work—I wanna come work,’ and I said okay, you’re invited anytime,” Goode said.According to the Empowerment Network’s Transformation 2030 strategy, the broader goal is to launch 250 Black-owned businesses and support at least 500 young adult entrepreneurs by the end of the decade.For Grant, that future feels close.“It’s good… I like the work, I like learning about cars… and it’s my future,” he said.Grant plans to start at Iowa Western Community College in the spring, studying business. He believes it will help him manage his own auto-detail business, which he hopes to open in the coming months.From a summer internship to a career plan, Grant represents exactly what Transformation 2030 aims to achieve: giving young people in North Omaha the tools to turn passion into lasting opportunity.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.



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