Winners of the 2014 YouthBiz competition were announced on December 12, 2014. $2,000 in prize money was awarded to students in southeast Saskatchewan for their efforts in describing their business ideas and developing business plans. This year, 250 students registered to compete in this innovative youth business competition. YouthBiz is a youth contest offered by Community Futures (CF) Sunrise.
In the Grade 6 – 9 category, First Place and $500 in prize money was awarded to Olivia Bocian of Weyburn for her clothing line and retail store, Enerji. Second Place and $300 went to Madison Meston and Mia Oberholzer of Radville for Post It Problems, an online local referral network. Third Place and $150 was awarded to Leah Macfarlane and Claire Larson of Carnduff for their business idea Speak Up, a bully-free café for teenagers.
In the Grade 10 – 12 category, First Place and $500 in prize money went to Kauron Cooper of Weyburn for her bed and breakfast The Little Things. Karina Peterson of Weyburn was the Runner Up with her business Outdoor Living, an outdoor adventure company.
"2014 marks the eighth year this youth business competition has been offered by CF Sunrise. Students came up with some incredible business ideas, and put a tremendous amount of effort into their business entries this year. The YouthBiz program focuses on assisting young people in finding out what it's like to start a business, and all the planning and decision-making involved. Students describe all facets of their imagined business idea including their set-up process," says Verna O'Neill of CF Sunrise.
Achievement Awards were also given to students whose entries displayed outstanding qualities. Carter Carles, Emilee Bender and Makena Ricard of Radville received awards for thier "Entrepreneurial Spirit" in operating their own businesses. Khloe Bedore and Makenna Ling of Weyburn won a New Invention award for their revolutionary T-Freeze shirt. Ireland Cowan, Laramie Stanley and Megyn Stanley of Carievale won a Motivation Award due to the reason they choose their business idea for YouthBiz. Jarius Block from Macoun provided a lot of extra detail in his business plan, Block's Custom Cut Butcher Shop, and won the Business Plan Detail award.
A number of student return multiple years to participate; they say they have a lot of fun and enjoy the challenge of designing their own business. Kauron Cooper, First Place winner states, "Thanks again for this awesome opportunity, it really opens my eyes to the options I have in the future with becoming an entrepreneur!"
Visit www.cfsask.ca/sunrise for a closer look at all of these YouthBiz winner submissions.
Special thanks to the mentorship provided by regional teachers, and for the generous support of 2014 YouthBiz sponsors: Cenovus, Affinity Credit Union, Weyburn Credit Union, SaskTel, SaskEnergy, SquareOne, and Jerry Mainil Limited.