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Building Confidence, Capability, and Community Impact

Discover your potential, build real-world solutions, and step into the future as leaders, creators, and community innovators.

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OUR MISSION

Elevate every student to their potential through mentorship, project-based learning, and real-world experiences that link classroom learning with innovation, career readiness, and community impact.

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EXPLORE OUR PROGRAMS

The Junior Edison Design DASH Incubator Cohort for Middle and High School Students

A hands-on innovation program for local youth in Salida

    • Kicking off in January 2026, the Junior Edison Design DASH is a 16-week, hands-on journey through the design thinking process, guiding you from identifying real-world challenges to pitching actionable, community-focused solutions, while introducing foundational entrepreneurship tools and early business ideation practice.

    • Each week builds on the last as you learn to define problems, brainstorm ideas, prototype, test, and refine your concept with support from expert mentors. The program emphasizes creativity and collaboration, helping you build not just practical solutions, but the confidence to lead innovation in your community and future career.

    The experience wraps up with The Big Pitch, a live event where you present your idea to mentors, community leaders, and potential investors for real feedback and possible support.

  • The Junior Edison Design DASH gives students the chance to become creators.

    The Junior Edison Design DASH invites local youth to guide the future of technological innovation and respond to community challenges with effective solutions - from safer schools to new ways to protect our planet.

    With support from local mentors, students learn to innovate to develop and test a new business idea, experiment confidently, and collaborate effectively. The program culminates in The Big Pitch, where students present their ideas to community leaders for feedback and potential support.

    Students can bring an idea they already care about, especially one that supports local community needs. Or they can create one with our help through the Junior Edison design process.

    Each student will be paired with a dedicated mentor who will provide consistent support throughout the program.


    Students leave not just with entrepreneurial skills, but with the mindset that innovation is something they can do right now.

  • Sponsored Internships: Continue your path with a summer internship, offered to students who have completed the Spring 2026 Incubator Cohort.

APPLY HERE
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ABOUT US

Hello, we’re JES

The Junior Edison STEA2Mplant (JES) is a student-driven incubator program in Salida, Colorado, fiscally sponsored by the Chaffee County Community Foundation (CCCF). Our vision is to be a leading rural youth incubator, empowering students of all ages to achieve their full potential and drive innovation in Chaffee County and beyond through STEAM education, entrepreneurship, and leadership development.

By providing mentorship, project-based and work-based learning, and opportunities for community impact, JES bridges classroom learning with real-world application for students (middle and high school).

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