ORANGE — LaunchSpace and the central Massachusetts-based Workers Credit Union have teamed up to educate 16- to 24-year-olds on personal finance in the event they want to start their own businesses.

“It’s something that LaunchSpace has always really wanted to do, is support youth in our area,” said Brianna Drohen, LaunchSpace’s CEO and co-founder.

The program teaches teens and young adults the financial literacy skills that are necessary to launch a successful company.

“It’s been going great,” said Sid Nordstrom, LaunchSpace’s director of programs and memberships. “We learn new things every cohort and this cohort, it’s been great to see how they immediately started to form up as a group. Sometimes that takes a little while, but it seemed like they were all able to form up as a cohort really quickly.”

One cohort began in September and ended on Dec. 4. Another started in October and lasts until June. There are 22 participants between the two cohorts who attend the financial literacy lessons at LaunchSpace, located on the Orange Innovation Center’s third floor at 131 West Main St.

“I think it kind of sparked from a serendipitous program that we ran with Heywood Hospital — a youth camp,” Drohen said of offering more services for youths. “They had some COVID funding to spend [in the] summer of 2022. And we felt that that was such a success with students. We saw in just four weeks how they transformed … in this space through the program. So we kind of really dug into that idea.”

“Knowing about personal finances is a great place to start,” Catherine Comerford, Workers Credit Union’s assistant vice president of community and business development, said in a statement. “I talk to the students about how to create a personal budget, which will help them figure out how to create a budget for their business down the road.”

One of the most recent cohort participants is 24-year-old Athol native Hannah Sotto, who is set to graduate on Dec. 18. Nordstrom said there will be a ceremony at which participants receive certificates and digital badges, indicators of accomplishment or skill that can be displayed, accessed and verified online.

Sotto explained she studied graphic design at Mount Wachusett Community College and was encouraged by her mother to enroll in the financial literacy cohort.

“There’s a lot of new people I got to meet, new connections,” she said, adding that she would recommend the program to others. “They really help with basic life skills, especially for a lot of introverted people, especially teenagers. I know that there’s not a lot of outlets for kids who are passionate about their creative skills.”

Sotto described herself as “more of a team player” who is interested in working for someone else before starting her own business. She is now an apprentice at LaunchSpace, with Drohen serving as her mentor.

“She’s wonderful,” Drohen said of Sotto. “She’s been working with me. She’s a great graphic artist and that’s kind of the path she wants to take. She designed our digital badges, which will be used in the future.”

LaunchSpace is always recruiting students. Anyone who is interested should reach out to Drohen at brianna@launchspace-orange.com.