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January 10, 2010
Talk of Our Town: Cathy Kightlinger
Young people seek sweet success
Tech entrepreneur Scott Jones is getting behind a plan to teach youngsters how to make
lemonade out of lemons.
Jones, the Hoosier who invented voice mail, is hosting a soiree at his Carmel estate
Jan. 21 to encourage Indianapolis metropolitan-area leaders to embrace Lemonade Day,
a program backed by former Hoosier Michael Holthouse.
Holthouse -- an entrepreneur who grew up in Richmond, lives in Texas and invested in
Jones' mobile question-answering search service, ChaCha -- launched the endeavor
in 2007 in Texas.
The concept is simple: Young lemonade stand owners borrow about $20 that they
promise to repay with interest, said Jones. Then, they set up their businesses on May 2
and make as much money as possible. When the day is done, and their debt repaid,
they keep the profits or donate them to charity.
In its first year, about 2,600 stands were set up in Houston. This year, organizers are
expecting to exceed 50,000 stands in that city, one of 14 major cities in the country
involved in the event.
Jones has created a local foundation, Think Forward, to help back the program.
"It teaches kids they can control their destiny," Jones said. "It changes their whole
life perspective. I won't make a penny. But, hopefully, they will make lots of pennies."
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