Earlier this month, the Amps Entrepreneurship Leadership Institute trained 25 high school and college students on St. Thomas during a weekend at the University of the Virgin Islands’ School of Agriculture. Participants worked alongside farmers and business owners to create business ideas centered around youth entrepreneurship in the agricultural field.

UVI English major Howard Jones told Consortium journalists that he became interested in agriculture a few years ago when he was a camp counselor. That spark led him to participate in the Amps retreat which he said resets the mindset of young people interested in business. “They bring that push that starts the passion… We had good ideas both this time and last time that could easily become major businesses down here if they got a good push and funding,” he said.

Today, Mr. Jones works at Smart Life Farms – a U.S.-based company that grows crops using vertical farming methods, which require less resources and take up less land space. “I’ve never had a job fulfill me like this,” he said, recalling that they’ve so far been harvesting several pounds of lettuce every few weeks in addition to other crops. He believes that this type of farming should be encouraged, particularly on St. Thomas…