Community Futures Sunrise has launched the 19th annual YouthBiz competition for southeast Saskatchewan students who want to showcase their entrepreneurial ideas, build financial skills, and connect with the local business community.
“Over the course of the last 18 years of the contest, there’s been over 3,500 students in Grades 6 to 12 all throughout southeast Saskatchewan who have entered our contest and they’ve gained skills on how to be an entrepreneur, on thinking about the financial aspects, the marketing aspects, and everything related to owning and running your own business,” shared General Manager Andria Brady.
“Through the generosity of the sponsors that we’ve had over the years, we’ve been able to give them $36,000 in cash, so we’re excited once again this year to be doing that, and a shout-out to our sponsors. We have two gold sponsors this year being Weyburn Credit Union and Prairie Sky Co-op. SaskTel is back as a silver sponsor and we have Cornerstone Credit Union as a bronze sponsor, and of course, we’re always accepting more sponsors because the more sponsorship dollars, the more cash that goes back to the students. Every cent of those dollars goes right back to the students.”
The registration deadline is October 3rd, and the entry submission deadline is Monday, November 17th at 4 p.m.
Brady said teachers are aware of the contest, but not everyone participates under the guidance of the school community.
“It’s really just to say, ‘hey, I’m entering. I’m doing this myself. I’ve got a friend or two. I’ve got a group of us. Here’s our business name. Here’s where we’re from’,” she noted. “I know most of the teachers allow time within the school day to do this, and certainly there are some students who will do this after school hours.”
“This is open to those that are in the homeschool programs as well. In fact, last year, one of our biggest winners was from the homeschool group.”
The Community Futures Sunrise website has everything a budding entrepreneur may need to create a business plan or a budget, all to use for free.
“This year we also have a mentorship program. We’ve got some mature students who are going through business with the Southeast College and they’ll be offering mentorship as well, so the students will be able to access those mentors free of charge.”
“We’re really just looking for some great entries this year. We also do know that there’s lots of young entrepreneurs already around us in the Southeast that have existing businesses. Maybe it was a summer business or maybe it’s something they do have been doing for some time.”
She said additional prizes are also offered to those entrants who can prove they have an existing business already in operation.
“It’s a safe space for those students that have maybe had that idea and they think, ‘oh, this would be a great business’. So it’s a safe space for them to figure out if it would actually be something they could make some money at and sometimes they find out, ‘hey, this is a great idea and I’m going to do this’, and sometimes they think, ‘you know what? This was a bad idea’, or ‘entrepreneurship’s not for me’. So it’s interesting to see their feedback after they’ve gone through the process.”
Brady said the participants are asked to provide a self-evaluation at the end of the competition as well to share what they learned from the experience.
From individuals to friends to classrooms doing a Junior Achievement program, the contest encourages creativity and entrepreneurial thinking in a fun and competitive environment. Students will create business plans, develop marketing materials, and present their innovative ideas.
Anyone with questions can contact youthbiz@cfsunrise.ca or 306-842-1768.
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