Avery Frix may be 17, but he is an accomplished businessman who wants to help other kids learn how to achieve business success.

Frix, a recent Muskogee High School graduate, runs Oxford Productions, a successful live sound and lights production.

“It’s important, I think, to tell kids they can start young,” Frix said. “You don’t have to be older to start a business, or you don’t have to be older to invest and save money.

“I just want to encourage kids and share some of my knowledge.”

Muskogee teenagers will get that chance Thursday to pick up some pertinent financial and business tips during the Young Entrepreneurship Program.

Civic Center Manager Cassandra Gaines said Muskogee kids have shown an interest in money management and entrepreneurship, but need to be given more knowledge on the subject.

“We need to teach these kids to learn how to turn their pennies into dollars,” Gaines said. “They have a lot they want to know about it, but they don’t have anyone to show them what they need to know.”

Gaines said the program, from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, is geared toward kids in junior high and high school.

“We have had good sign-ups so far,” Gaines said. “But, we have room for a few more kids.”

Daniel Miller, a financial adviser at Edward Jones in Muskogee, will be at the program to offer information about investing and money management.

“I’m going to try and complement what Avery will be talking about,” Miller said. “I’ll talk a little about diversification and the importance of quality investments and what a quality investment looks like.”

Miller said there are common misconceptions he’d like to dispel about investing. The first, he said, is that you can’t invest if you’re young. He also said you don’t have to be rich to invest and put money back.

“I started investing when I was 15 years old,” Miller said. “People think you have to be extremely wealthy to invest, and that’s not true. You build wealth a little bit at a time.”

Reach Dylan Goforth at (918) 684-2903 or dgoforth@muskogeephoenix.com.

If you go



WHAT: Young Entrepreneurship Program

WHERE: Roxy Theater, 220 W. Okmulgee Ave.

WHEN: 10 a.m. Thursday.

ADMISSION: Free.

INFORMATION: To sign up, call the Muskogee Civic Center, (918) 684-6363 or Avery Frix, (918) 680-1218.