The following is reprinted from an article in the Fort Worth Busness Press.

Six Texas high school students were awarded for entrepreneurial success at the 2006 TCU Texas Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Awards banquet Feb. 13. The awards, given by the TCU’s Neeley School of Business, are scholarships of $5,000 for the grand prize winner and $1,000 for the other five winners. Prizes are doubled for those who choose to attend TCU upon graduation.

The grand prize of $5,000 went to Jeff Livney, a senior at The Woodlands High School in The Woodlands. He came up with the company Piko Zoom, a student-run graphic consulting firm that offers Web design and development, brand and identity consulting, print and Internet marketing, and Web/interactive solutions, including e-commerce. He founded the company during his sophomore year and has since hired 15 students as independent contractors.

The $1,000 scholarship winners are Lucas Butler, a senior at Palmer High School in Palmer, Craig Gagne, a senior at Judson High School in Universal City, Austin Hoffman, a senior at All Saints’ Episcopal School in Tyler, Charlie Neff, a junior at Grandview High School in Grandview and Andrew Spiziri, a senior at Highland Park High School in Dallas.

Butler’s business is Lucas Boer Goats. He began raising goats in 2002 to help save for his college tuition. He now has 28 females, two males and four show goats and expects 60 to 80 kids in the spring. He markets his business by networking with other breeders via professional organizations, and has recently expanded his business to offer barn and fence construction as well as breaking horses and helping other goat raisers.

Gagne’s company, Global Exotic Reptiles, provides exotic livestock to zoological institutions and other organizations worldwide. He has distributed more than 1,300 of these animals in the past three years, an endeavor that started when Gagne was 15 and he used his savings to buy an exotic animal that he sold for a profit. He buys animals from breeders and sells them through Internet sales and trade shows. He plans to someday directly import the animals and build a breeding facility.

Hoffman’s business, Coleto Collectibles, is an internet retailer that sells garage sale items. He visits multiple garage sales on Saturday mornings, buys things and sells them for profit online via eBay. He has grossed more than $50,000 and has written a book about operating a successful Internet business titled “Guerilla Garage Sales.”

Neff started CN Graphics, a printing business, in 2003. His company prints business cards, T-shirts and other promotional materials on his own portable printing press. He sends flyers and coupons to high school officials, approximately 1,000 mailings per month, and says he gets at least one new customer for every 50 mailings.

Spiziri started iLaunch Creations in 2002. The company, a network of Web sites offering independent services, includes sites that offer streaming radio music, image hosting, funny movies and pictures, template downloading and professional template layout work. He gains revenue by charging for the sites’ services in addition to advertising dollars.