Businesses' rising star
Youthful entrepreneur to offer fresh veggies
Alex Den Bleyker was recently the recipient of a first place award in the Statewide Youth Business Plan Competition. The 12-year-old submitted a proposal for building a greenhouse to grow and sell fresh vegetables.. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A 12-year-old home-schooled student from Gallup is seeing green — in more ways than one — after winning first place honors in a statewide youth business competition.

Alex DenBleyker won $800 and a trip to a youth entrepreneurial training program at Disney World with his business proposal to build a greenhouse and sell organic vegetables. Alex defeated 11 other finalists — all high school students — in New Mexico’s Statewide Youth Business Plan Competition. The contest was sponsored by the Governor’s Office and a coalition of business organizations.

In a recent interview at his Indian Hills home, Alex and his father, Arden, talked about Alex’s winning business proposal. Alex said his mother saw a notice of the competition and passed it on to him. After some conversations with his parents, Alex came up with the idea to build a backyard greenhouse and grow vegetables to sell locally.

“I’ve always liked growing stuff,” said Alex, who also said he actually likes vegetables.

With that inspiration, Alex’s business, “Gallup’s Dreamland Vegetables,” and its motto, “Fresh vegetables from my backyard to your front door,” was born. According to Alex, he researched the idea and found an 8x20 foot greenhouse that he could buy for $895. With his father’s help, Alex will build the greenhouse and install it half-way underground.

Solar panels will provide electricity to power a fan that will circulate warm air through tubes in the soil.

Arden DenBleyker, who has a degree in horticulture, is planning to build a bigger greenhouse for the family’s use, and both father and son plan to collect rain water from their home’s roof to water the greenhouses. Alex said he plans to grow 10 varieties of vegetables in his greenhouse, which he believes will extend his growing season by about two months. “The vegetables will be entirely organic,” he added, “no fertilizer.”

After researching the prices of fresh produce in Gallup, Alex said he plans to price his vegetables somewhere between the prices at local grocery stores and the Gallup Farmers Market. He plans to advertise mostly in the Indian Hills neighborhood through flyers and word of mouth, and he plans to deliver orders on his bike. If he has extra produce that he can’t sell, Alex said he will donate it to CARE 66 or the Community Pantry.

All these plans were detailed in Alex’s business proposal. Although Alex’s mother, Irene, helped him put the proposal together, Arden DenBleyker said Alex did all the research.

After Alex was named one of the 12 state finalists, his father added, he put in lots of time practicing his oral presentation.

The competition was held Oct. 1-3 in Tucumcari in conjunction with the Governor’s Summit on Economic Development. Fortunately for Alex — although unbeknown to him — the focus of the state summit was “green” economics. And though he was the only student his age competing against high school finalists, Alex said previous modeling and acting training left him feeling very comfortable explaining his PowerPoint presentation to the business leaders who served as judges.

Alex went on to win the competition, and along with his first place $800 start-up capital, he won an August 2009 trip to Disney World for business training. His parents are planning to accompany him on the trip, he explained, because the contest officials didn’t expect a 12-year-old to win.

According to Marcia Brenden, a senior associate at Highlands University’s Center of the Education and Study of Diverse Populations, the program that coordinated the competition, the other top winners were all students from Espanola High School: Sara Maez and Dulce Avitia earned second place for their business “Chrysalis,” Colleen Garcia’s “Ice Queen” proposal won third place, Sophia Trujillo’s “Pro Ink” took fourth place, and Crystal Sanchez’s business, “Crystal’s Beaded Lanyards,” came in fifth.
Elsie Sanchez, the director of the UNM-Gallup Small Business Development Center, promoted the competition locally. Sanchez complimented Alex for coming up with his environmentally friendly idea and for following through with his business plan. “Right now the focus is on ‘green,’ she said. “He’s right on target with his project.”

Alex said he is taking money from his savings account to supplement his prize money to buy the greenhouse. He and his father will be building it in the next couple of months, and he’s looking forward to planting his first crop of vegetables in the spring. In the meantime, he said, he’s planning on joining this weekend’s Crop Walk to raise money for hunger projects around the world.

Information: Highlands University’s CESDP: (505) 426-2272.