Summer Company Offers Opportunity for Youth to Create Their Own Business

The Akwesasne Arena Management Board hosted a youth workshop on a program called Summer Company this past Monday at the Akwesasne Youth Resource Centre in Kana:takon. The Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre (CBEC) has been administering this program since 2001 and will do so again for the summer of 2011.

Youth between the ages of 15-29 have the unique opportunity of becoming their own boss for the summer. Last year 15 participants from the Cornwall and SD&G area were accepted into the program to create their own business with $1,500 in start-up funding. The CBEC is committed to assisting area youth in the development of their business plans to submit for consideration for funding.

“This program is really good and benefits the youth in getting their own company started. If I would have known about this program when I was in high school it would have helped a lot,” said Career Development Officer Nathan Sunday who helped to coordinate the workshop along with Beatrice Johnson.

Previous projects from around Ontario have ranged from take-out pizza parlors, agriculture ventures, swimming lessons to a theatre company. Eligible youth interested in going after this grant would also have access to a network of mentors in their area of interest. The CBEC would also assist in developing and implementing a business plan for interested youth who are returning to school in the fall. Upon successful completion of the program the youth participant would be eligible to receive an additional $1,500.

Local youth Jori Rourke participated in the program last summer creating Powder Blush Bomb providing professional makeup services.

“This program gives youth training, experience and money to help them start up their business,” said Candy Pollard of CBEC. “We are looking forward to working with the youth of Akwesasne to take advantage of this and future business programs.”

With the tight deadline of having an approval by May 7 for the summer program the CBEC encourage youth who already have an idea in place and are extremely motivated to contact them to start the process. The CBEC can assist interested youth in doing the research but the bulk of the work is up to the applicant to develop.

“This has been such a successful program over the years and some of the participants are still running the companies that they had started,” said Pollard. “I would encourage youth at this point to start thinking about taking advantage of the program for next summer.”

The CBEC plans on continuing their outreach to the youth of Akwesasne throughout the year. They will be hosting additional workshop to develop the entrepreneurial spirit of the youth in the coming months. For more information on this program visit http://www.summercompany.ca or call the CBEC at 613-933-0074.