DEARBORN — Fordson High School senior Ali Hussein Saad has been trying to create his own business for the last four years.

Principal Imad Fadlallah said he’d been driving him crazy with his gas company ideas.

But Saad’s ambitions have landed him a $40,000 opportunity to attend any college in the country.

The McKelvey Foundation, a nonprofit formed by the businessman who created Monster.com, awarded 100 scholarships in 2008 to young entrepreneurs around the country.

Saad, 18, was one of them. He’ll receive up to $10,000 a year for four years at the college of his choice.

Fadlallah said he wasn’t surprised when he got word of the award.

“Ali is that type of kid… At first I didn’t take him seriously. But he was very determined.”

Saad’s company, Michigan Propane, isn’t entirely off the ground yet, but he said he’s been working hard with a classmate, his partner Hussein Shukr, to strike deals with local gas companies.

Saad also helps operate his father’s restaurant, La Cigale in Dearborn, making him eligible for the scholarship.

He said he applied for the award in passing, not realizing he’d qualify. He even received a rejection letter at one point.

“Then a lady called and said ‘I’m sorry. I sent out the wrong letter,'” he said.

After a phone interview with a McKelvey representative in New York, Saad got a second letter notifying him that he’d be receiving the award.

He said he owes accomplishment to being active in Fordson’s marketing classes since he was a freshman, and always keeping up with the stock market and business news.

 “I’m a morning person. I wake up very early and check oil and stock prices.”

Marketing teacher Georgene Stergalas has helped him along the way.

“She’s been giving me advice, overlooking it for me,” he said.

Despite the opportunity to go to school wherever he wants, Saad insists on staying in the Detroit area, and will attend either Wayne State University or the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

“I was born in east Dearborn and plan to stay in east Dearborn. As long as I’m in Dearborn, I’m the happiest person in the world. I appreciate the scholarship and I’m going to make use of it here.”

He said he wants to base his company locally and use it in a way that benefits the community.

“In the end, its not about how much money I end up with, its how creative I am with it.”