The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

June 5, 2008

Beckley student wins entrepreneur award

By Fred Pace

The National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation and Visa awarded four $5,000 scholarships to the students selected as 2008 Young Entrepreneurs at a dinner held in Washington, D.C., Tuesday.

One of this year’s $5,000 scholarship winners was Mountain State Academy student John Kirkpatrick of Beckley.

Officials said Kirkpatrick started an Internet marketing business, ZeroPricetags.com, in January 2007 that offers “gadgets,” from $40 video games to $2,000 plasma TVs, to reward people who agree to use certain products or participate in surveys.

“John has worked with more than 100 companies and grossed more than $650,000,” said Don Cogman, chair of NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation Board of Directors.

Kirkpatrick will attend Wake Forest University.

NFIB announced two West Virginia recipients of the sixth annual NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards, a scholarship program designed to reward and encourage entrepreneurial talents among high school students.

Aaron Reed of Wheeling received a $1,000 NFIB Young Entrepreneur Award from the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation.

Reed, who recently graduated from The Linsley School, a college preparatory school in Wheeling, founded Aaron Reed Enterprises, an online bookseller.

“Aaron buys books at local thrift stores, garage sales and library discard racks, then sells them for a profit on Web sites such as Amazon.com and Half.com,” Cogman said.

Reed, who also is a freelance writer, plans to attend Northwestern University.

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