The future of Barrie business filled the Southshore Centre today as over 40 young entrepreneurs showcased their skills and celebrated their successes.
The Small Business Centre of Barrie, Simcoe County and Orillia held their Summer Company Launch today in effort to allow many of their students to get experience at speaking with potential clients and customers. Briar Kelly is the Youth Programs Coordinator for the SBC and helped oversee the event for which she was excited for those who participated.
“This is part of the Summer Company Program that provides students aged 15 to 29, whether they’re in high school or post secondary, to receive up to $3,000 in funding as well as mentorship and training throughout the summer to start a business,” said Kelly. “Today we teamed up with other like-minded local organizations such as the YMCA, College Boreal and Nottawasaga Futures in hopes of providing a large turnout, which we did and are very proud of.”
The Summer Company Program is a provincial program that helps students who are aiming to start their own business through grants, training and mentorship. Kelly praises her hometown for being the perfect place for young people to get their feet wet in the business world.
“Barrie is a great entrepreneurship ecosystem as it still has that small town feel and big city appeal,” said Kelly. “For this Summer Program specifically we do pull from the local businesses to help with mentoring and help support the students in a situation like this.”
Acting-Mayor for the month Rose Romita was on hand to lend her support not only from a municipal level but also as someone who came up through the ranks of entrepreneurship.
“I love attending the events regarding our young business minds,” said Romita. “I’m an entrepreneur myself and sometimes you need encouraging words to keep going. You tend to get the feeling like 'I can’t do this anymore’ and it’s those moments that you need to hear from someone who has been there and can tell you that sticking it out and pushing forward will pay off. This city is full of do-it-yourselfers who will lend advice when needed.”
15 year old Meyson Medeiros owns Enchanted Tales which makes all-natural bath bombs. One of the youngest business owners at the event, Medeiros knows that were it not for programs like this, she would likely not be able to be her own boss and learn valuable lessons needed.
“It’s very nerve-racking sometimes and I’m really just learning to promote myself and business,” said Medeiros. “Even though a lot of the people I deal with are through Facebook it is still important for me to learn how to speak with potential customers face to face. Events like this really help me a lot and give me confidence.”
The event, which was held from 12pm to 2pm, was open to the public and well-attended by people who were just interested in knowing more about the many different businesses that were there. Young people on-hand were engaging with folks twice their age and not only learning from them, but teaching them a thing or two as well. 16 year old Troy Hancock runs Creative Loft and provides custom responsive website design for a large variety of clientele in Barrie and the Greater Toronto Area. The Eastview Secondary School student loves what he does and with the help of family makes sure he balances all responsibility properly.
“Whether it’s your tablets, IPhones or desktop, your website will always be fitted in on any platform,” said Hancock. “Within the last year I basically taught myself this and focusing a lot of my time and learning everything in and out. It does take a lot of discipline to do it but my parents have been really good at helping e manage my time between this and school.”
As the Summer Company Program is helping students right now to get off the ground, it’s also about making sure they are well-equipped to handle the future and wherever they may see themselves; Hancock’s plan is pretty simple.
“In five years I would hope to have a big a enough business that I would start outsourcing and become more of a CEO type person in the company so I could sit back and handle that part of it,” said Hancock. “I already have close to ten clients and while I will obviously need more, I feel I’m on the right path for that.”
For more information regarding the Summer Company Program, check out the website at www.ontario.ca/page/start-summer-company-students
