At 17, most kids don’t explore the corporate world much beyond the classic summer jobs, the fast-food grills or blue-jeans racks.

But these students have bigger plans.

One wants to start up a regional airline, with low fares to put pressure on larger competitors.

Another envisions a sophisticated, elegant restaurant.

“Some of them are really serious about getting a business going at some point in their lives,” said Wendy Russell, a second-year teacher at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center. The LRTC draws roughly 800 students from six area high schools.

Russell calls her class Entrepreneurship and Business Law. During the semester, which runs from January through early June, she teaches students how to develop sound business plans.

On Wednesday morning the class visited the Business Information Center of Maine, part of the Lewiston CareerCenter on Mollison Way. Russell has teamed up with Bonnie Erickson of the U.S. Small Business Administration, a BIC partner.

“These students could be the next Ben & Jerry’s,” said Erickson, an economic development specialist. “We’ve worked with a couple of schools, with great success. The kids get excited about what they are doing, and they take these skills with them.

“It’s entrepreneurial education,” Erickson said. “This is a way to reach out to them.”

Erickson has spoken to Russell’s class about business issues and research methods, and how the SBA and other agencies help launch small companies. At the information center, the students can search databases, network with mentors and study model business plans.

“Today’s main objective is for them to find three legal requirements they would have to consider before opening their business,” said Russell, who once worked as an independent consultant for The Pampered Chef Ltd.

This will be the second class of Russell’s to develop business plans. And this time around, a nice incentive has been added to the mix. Members of the Service Corps of Retired Executives will present a $100 U.S. savings bond to the student with the top-rated plan. A jury of executives and SBA members will judge the finished projects.

“They seem to have a variety of businesses in the works,” said Ralph Tuttle, chairman of the local SCORE chapter.

“The business plan is the key,” Tuttle said. “Most people need money to set up a business. They have to borrow from a commercial lender, and the first thing they will be asked for is that plan.”

Gabi Rossi, 17, a Lewiston High School exchange student from Brazil, said the course has convinced her to follow a career in business. She wants to study international relations at the University of Sao Paolo, then work in the United States.

“To negotiate with other countries you need to speak other languages well,” Rossi said of her business idea, an international language center.

Joe Poirier, also of Lewiston High, wants to stay closer to home. He has helped at his father’s financial planning firm here since fifth grade, and he plans on eventually taking over the family business. His plan will propose a variety of services, from health insurance to investing for retirement.

Another student, 18-year-old Joe McGrath, is designing an Internet advertising company. He would design ads and buy space for them online. While McGrath is not sure if business education is the right path for him, the skills learned this semester will be valuable, he said.

“I’m learning quite a bit,” McGrath said. “Starting a business is a lot more than people think. It’s not just coming up with a name.”

tmaxwell@sunjournal.com