The winners of the 2014 YouthBiz competition were announced on Dec. 12, with $2,000 in prize money 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 put on by Community Futures Sunrise.
In the Grade 6-9 category, first place and $500 in prize money went to Olivia Bocian of St. Michael School in Weyburn, for her clothing line and retail store entitled, 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 cafe for teenagers.
In the Grade 10-12 category, first place and $500 prize money went to Kauron Cooper of the Weyburn Comp School for her bed-and-breakfast, The Little Things; Karina Peterson, also of the Comp, was the runner-up with business, Outdoor Living, an outdoor adventure company.
This was the eighth year that CF Sunrise has offered this youth business competition.
“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 setup process,” said Verna O’Neill of CF Sunrise.
There were a number of achievement awards handed out to students whose entries displayed outstanding qualities.
Khloe Bedore and Makenna Ling of Assiniboia Park School of Weyburn won the New Invention Award for their idea of a revolutionary T-Freeze shirt; the idea is to have a shirt that can be cooled off in a fridge, or warmed up in a microwave, and is capable of holding its temperature for a long time.
Carter Carles, Emilee Bender and Makena Ricard of Radville were awarded for their “Entrepreneurial Spirit” in operating their own businesses.
A number of students return multiple years to participate; they say they have a lot of fun and enjoy the challenge of designing their own business.
Kauron Cooper, the high school first-place winner, said, “Thanks again for this awesome opportunity; it really opens my eyes to the options I have in the future with becoming an entrepreneur.”
To see the winning submissions in this year’s competition, go to www.cfsask.ca/sunrise for a closer look.
