As young people transition out of school, there are many options for them and their future. The Trans-Actions Conference for Youth presented one of the alternatives, encouraging youth to consider entrepreneurship.
The conference, presented by the Yorkton Tribal Council, the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce and Dreambuilders, had several presentations, including some put on by local business owners, speaking on the experience of being a young entrepreneur as well as presentations on social media. The event drew students from schools throughout the region.
Dale Domres with the Yorkton Tribal Council says the focus on youth is relatively new for the event, but something that is valuable as students begin to consider their careers.
"We envisioned it as being an opportunity that we may overlook. We take our education post-secondary, we go to university or take the trades, but there is another option, we could maybe set up our own small business and we are hoping to get them thinking about that a little earlier in that process," Domres says.
A highlight of the conference is local business people presenting to the students. Juanita Polegi of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce says it's important to have that voice to tell students what is possible close to home.
"I think it's really important when you have young, local people addressing the students. They just relate so much better to those people, and when you have that local flavor, it's not way out there, it's close by," Polegi says.
Domres adds that business is something that is learned hands on, and having the local business people tell their stories gives a better perspective of what it takes to succeed and get a business going.
Polegi says that the partnership between the YTC, the Chamber of Commerce and Dreambuilders has been vital to making the conference work, as each brings something different to the table.
"More importantly with the youth conference, we didn't have that connect to the schools, so with Dreambuilders we engaged folks that have insight into even planning our agenda that even we wouldn't have thought of," Domres says.
The partnership will continue through a business idea project, which will see students supply ideas and possibly have judges select the top two business ideas from local students. Domres says that idea will be to get students thinking of business plans, with applications beginning sometime in December.
