LEXINGTON — Kent Reese likes video games, like many teenage boys. Unlike many of his peers, he’s also created his own.
Because of his hard work, Reese will attend the ninth annual Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) Saunders Scholars national semifinal competition in early May at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. Once there he plans to study game design and development in Fall 2017.
“Kent has the ability to win this,” said Nikki Lewis, foundation manager for the Mansfield Richland Area educational foundation. “He has the ability to have a very successful business. I cannot wait to see where he goes.”
Reese, 18, is a senior at Lexington High School. He didn’t want to wait until after graduation day to get started on his future.
So, he started his own business, Om Games, which features one game called “Duck.” He created the game using programming skills attained through an online class at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington. Reese learned business skills through the Chamber of Commerce’s YEA branch.
“I was trying to start it for two years, but I’ve only been in YEA for a few months,” Reese said. “It’s helped me speed things along and given me an opportunity to finish what I started.”
Duck is a retro-style game, similar to Mario or Donkey Kong. He was awarded $1,000 to hire a digital artist in March when he pitched the idea to a panel of investors. He hopes to get the game on the market soon.
Reese, who started playing video games at age 7, likes the retro-style — which inspired his design of his game.
“I wanted to start with something I could manage first, but it was also a choice I consciously made because I enjoy those kinds of games,” he said.
A high school teacher introduced him to the YEA program.
“It would have been a lot harder to start this (without YEA),” Reese said. “They’ve done a great job teaching me the ins and outs of running a business.”
He is also a part of the Central Ohio GameDev Group, which meets in Columbus.
Following the release of Duck, he isn’t sure if Om Games will release other games in the near future. He hopes to focus on academics.
Reese will compete against other top students in May for a variety of prizes, but has his eye on a $30,000 scholarship for Rochester Institute of Technology.
YEA is a national program for students as young as sixth grade. Jodie Perry, president of the Richland County Chamber of Commerce, was previously the chamber president in Rochester and brought the concept here. It’s now in its second year.
“We walk through the entire process with them from developing ideas, to partnering them with mentors from around our community, assisting in the business plan writing, bringing investors to them who will help provide funding for these startups, and then helping them launch their businesses,” Lewis said. “We want to see these students succeed and if we can be even a small part of their success, then we have done our job.”
Before the end of the program, students become the CEO of their own real company. It’s complete with bank accounts and a tax ID number.
“At 13, at 17 and 18 (years-old), I wasn’t thinking about being a business owner and making speeches in front of rooms of people asking for funding,” Lewis said. “These students are doing something that many people don’t figure out how to do until they are much older.”
The program is open to all school districts in Richland County. Those interested in participating in the program may call the Chamber of Commerce at 419-522-3211.
