YEA on Oprah

On April 28, 2000, Robert L. Nessen, Chairman of CRIC Capital and co-founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Alliance, was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show's Remembering Your Spirit segment. The eight-minute piece featured Alliance All-Purpose, a business owned and operated by adjudicated young men ages 13-20. With the help of his daughter (and YEA's current executive director) Julie Nessen, Alliance All-Purpose evolved into the Young Entrepeneurs Alliance in 2001. Please call YEA at 978.369.2400 to request a copy of the segment on DVD.

Triumph Through Finance?

"You never know what to expect at Monday-morning meetings, but invariably the level of intelligence engulfs and overwhelms you. I'm on a high, and almost don't want to do anything for the rest of the day." - Robert Nessen

Robert Nessen is a successful businessman who realized he had a lot to offer to those less fortunate, and with less opportunity. He'd been practicing law and real-estate investing for years, and was eager to work with younger people. The Alliance House offered him the perfect opportunity.

The Alliance House is a home for delinquent boys. Boys, usually under the age of 20, who've committed nonviolent crimes such as drug use, drug possession, car theft, or petty theft. They are neither rough nor frightening, but are caught in the court system.

Robert started teaching finance at the Alliance House simply to educate the boys on a subject that might be foreign to them. He soon learned that the boys were far more sophisticated than expected. He decided to take it to the next level and actually start a business with the boys. He told them that they would take unskilled labor and build it into a skilled business.

The business makes use of the boys' "handyman" skills, primarily painting and moving. Even the people within the community see the lifestyle changes taking place within the young entrepreneurs. Robert runs the Board of Directors meeting, as well as the stockholders meeting every Monday morning. The board is made up of the boys themselves. They make $8 an hour, share the profits, and put 20% of the gross profits back into the business as capital. Last year their business made $50,000, and this year they're planning on making $75,000. For the first time, these young men have a real job.

Robert's influence goes well beyond the business. The boys gain respect for their customers, and therefore their community. In addition, they walk away every day with a great deal of self-confidence. Robert thoroughly enjoys watching his new young friends move up through high school, graduate, and in most cases, go on to college.

When asked what his work with the Alliance House does for him spiritually, Robert says it's best stated in an old saying, "He who saves one life saves the universe entire." Robert admits, "there's nothing better or more uplifting for the spirit than that.