| Community Futures
Sunrise
And the winner is... the YouthBiz E-Show!
The YouthBiz E-Show was the recipient of 2008
Minister's Award for Excellence and Innovation. "We try to
develop initiatives that encourage entrepreneurship and support
our communities, and this provincial recognition is an added bonus,"
comments Chantelle Ernst, General Manager of CF Sunrise.
Riding on the success of the highly popular
YouthBiz Challenge program, CF Sunrise developed a more regional
method to promote student entrepreneurship in southeast Saskatchewan.
"We realized that although the YouthBiz
Challenge was a great way to connect business and students together,
it wasn't able to serve our entire region. This reality caused
us to sit back and generate creative ideas to entice regional
students to participate in a fun, educational and entrepreneurial
experience. The YouthBiz E-Show was born!" comments Verna
O'Neill of Community Futures Sunrise.
The YouthBiz E-Show is an exciting business
competition designed to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in youth.
The E-Show makes operating a virtual tradeshow booth a fun learning
experience for students. In two years of operation, 162 students
from southeast Saskatchewan registered to compete for $4,150.00
in prize money, and the results are amazing!
The E-Show combines the skill of business planning
with high-tech web based applications to showcase student efforts
in a dynamic and exciting way. Grade 6 – 12 students within
CF Sunrise's area are invited to compete in the E-Show.
Submissions include: a business plan, audio
commercial, poster, business card and optional web page and supplementary
materials. When complete, the students will have created a virtual
tradeshow booth, including an interactive booth host! All the
student booths are housed on the CF Sunrise website in a virtual
tradeshow hall. Visitors to the YouthBiz E-Show can navigate the
tradeshow hall with their keyboards and experience all the sights
and sounds of an exhibit hall.
"This competition is such a great way for
students to experience business ownership. There is no risk to
their personal finances, just the investment of student time and
effort to generate a great booth. Young people can flex their
entrepreneurial muscles while enhancing their resumes, and there's
always the potential to win prize money!" says O'Neill.
The time and efforts these young entrepreneurs
have invested in the E-Show is evident in the businesses created.
Restaurants, day spas, environmental companies, a horse stable,
an interplanetary travel agency, organic farming, wedding apparel
stores and art galleries are just the tip of the iceberg. One
visitor to the 2008 YouthBiz E-Show commented, "Wow, I am
so blown away, this is amazing!"
"This initiative would not be possible
without the generous support of the business community and the
outstanding mentorship of teachers in our region. We appreciate
their involvement and look forward to continued partnerships,"
says O'Neill.
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