The 2020 YouthBiz Commercial Contest Winners have been announced! More than 150 students from southeast Saskatchewan participated in this youth entrepreneurship contest, each developing an audio commercial and answering key questions about their business idea.
"We're thrilled that so many students took part in YouthBiz again this year. Community Futures (CF) Sunrise has offered the YouthBiz contest for 14 years, and this year we pivoted the program due to Covid. We weren't able to visit regional schools in-person this past fall, and needed to connect with students and teachers virtually," commented Verna O'Neill, General Manager of CF Sunrise. "Because businesses have been making a focused effort to reach customers online, YouthBiz addressed this shift by encouraging students to create a digital audio commercial as part of the contest entry requirements. And students certainly unleashed their creativity to create some excellent commercials!" said O'Neill.
First Place and $300 was awarded to Anushka Raulji for her tutoring business, Elite Academy. Second Place and $200 was won by Amy Gilliland for her company, Jewelry by Amy. Third Place and $100 was given to Payton Grad and Chloe Krienke for their online clothing store, Clayton Designs.
Additionally, Special Achievement Awards of $50 each were awarded to students demonstrating unique aspects to their YouthBiz entries.
- The award for Social Responsibility was won by Kaitlyn Wild for her business Kaitlyn's Coasters. Kaitlyn described how she donates to cancer research from her business profits.
- The best Business Slogan award was given to Sailor Cowan's business SC Ranching. The slogan she created was 'Live life like someone left the gate open!"
- Korbyn Kaufman recorded a very expressive commercial for his business KK Berry Farm, and was recognized with the Effective Commercial Award.
- Addison Laird and Winston Segeart used a unique approach in their audio commercial and won the Creative Commercial Format Award for their business Radville Canine Care Centre.
"A big thank you must go out to the teachers in our region, for encouraging students to participate in YouthBiz. Their commitment to youth entrepreneurship education is amazing, and this program continues to be successful because of their ongoing efforts," comments O'Neill.
Thank you to the 2020 YouthBiz sponsors: Weyburn Credit Union, Affinity Credit Union and SaskTel. These community-minded organizations have been supportive of youth entrepreneurship, and the YouthBiz program for many years.