Youth turn their minds to business matters

The University of Ottawa hosted 200 young competitors for the 10th anniversary E-Spirit Aboriginal Youth Business Plan Competition held May 11 through May 13.

Organized by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the event is open to Aboriginal students in grades 10 through 12 and features 16 weeks of business planning before the national event.

The three-day assembly is the culmination of that work, gathering more than 70 teams together to share their business concepts through trade-show style displays, power point presentations and workshops. Awards and cash prizes are given to the top three business plans, and special recognition is awarded in a variety of categories.

This year’s Gold Award recipients are Jordann Hazelwood and Hillary McLean. Their business is the Dusty Road Café “an eco-friendly place of serenity where individuals can get in touch with their personal lives, schooling and the seven sacred teachings of their Aboriginal ancestors.”

McLean attends South Kamloops Secondary School and worked on the project with Hazelwood, who lives in Chilliwack, hours away by car. McLean and Hazelwood had worked together the summer before, so when the idea of the E-spirit competition was suggested to McLean, she knew she wanted her work buddy to be involved.

Together they toiled through the 16-week Internet-based competition on Skype, a software application popular for instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing.

The core requirements of the E-spirit contest is the creation of a business plan, a trade show display, a video that features the business and a power-point presentation.

McLean said the Dusty Road Café trade booth featured a “Guess the Number of Gumballs” contest. The prize was a basket of coffees and teas, the kinds of products on offer at the cafÈ that would be located on the Tk’emlups Indian reserve.

The power-point presentations included marketing concepts, mission and vision statements, financials and a description of the key management personnel.

McLean explained Dusty Road Café would be a student hangout, open between the hours of 7 a.m. to midnight. It’s something she said Kamloops is desperately in need of, because “nothing is open past 9:30 around here.”

The café’s logo includes local landmarks Mount Peter and Mount Paul, and a dusty road that runs in back of the houses on reserve where children ride their bikes and play.

McLean said she enjoyed her time in Canada’s capital city, meeting influential people and seeing the sights.

She said her involvement in the competition has taught her about the kind of hard work it takes to be a business person, and she takes away from the experience a new understanding of determination and persistence.

McLean has no plans to go into business any time soon, planning instead to head to university to pursue her goal of becoming a respiratory therapist, just like her dad. But she doesn’t rule out the possibility of entrepreneurship in her future.

Silver Award winners Jessica Jack and Vanessa Hamilton-George attend the Vast alternative school in Port Alberni. Their business, Alberni Creations, is a graphics company that showcases the Alberni Clayoquot region through promotional DVDs and unique art/photo cards. They also won the special award for Best Video.

Jack created the business motto: Live life on creation’s edge. She explained that it had two meanings. Alberni Creations is located on the western edge of Canada, and the service they offer is on the cutting edge of digital design.

Hamilton-George created the logo, two stylized hummingbirds that represent the two women, said Jack. They also represent a messenger between two worlds, putting nature and spirit in balance. A sun at the centre of the design represents the energy source that will keep the business moving forward.

And energy they needed. From the moment the women stepped off the plane, the pair was running. First it was trade show day and Alberni Creations was a bit of a hit. Hamilton-George said they still have numb toes from standing in high heels all day as a steady procession of participants and judges visited their booth where they sold cedar roses and T-shirts, gave away candies and pins, brochures and business cards.

Day two was the powerpoint presentations and Hamilton-George said she spent a lot of time whispering in Jack’s ear as they watched the others. No ‘ums’ and ‘likes’, she was reminded of her lessons from their coach Miss Rita Sowden. No shuffling papers.

Jack admitted she was nervous, having not had a lot of opportunity to speak in public, so she told herself to concentrate on making eye contact and not to fiddle.

Jack and Hamilton-George learned Alberni Creations had pulled a head of the pack during an elevator ride. A list of the top nine business plans had been posted there. They laughed when remembering the scared look on the faces of a couple of women in the elevator with them, watching as the Alberni Creations squad jumped and screamed in the knowledge they were headed to the finals.

The awards gala was like the Grammys, said Hamilton-George, with musical performances bracketing the individual award presentations. When it was announced that Alberni Creations had placed second “I almost cried,” said Hamilton-George. The gala was being filmed and the camera swung to take in their walk to the podium to accept the honor.

The ladies both say that the experience with E-spirit was life changing.

The Bronze winner was a team from Winnipeg.

Abinoojiiens boutique focuses on producing snugs for new mothers and babies. Made to “ginawendaan abinoojiiens abaawaa” (keep babies warm), snugs are a modern version of the traditional and authentic style of Ah tikinugen, a snug made from stronger material and sewn with bark. Students awarded were Brittany David, Amber Fontaine, Joshua Mousseau, and Matthew Shorting from Children of the Earth High School.

Cash prizes were awarded in the amount of $2,500 for gold, $1,500 for silver and $750 for bronze. Twelve Special Achievement awards were also presented: Most Original Name–Precious Little Ones Daycare–”Usma”, Gold River Secondary School, Gold River, B.C.; Best Logo–The Dusty Road Cafe, South Kamloops Secondary School, Kamloops, B.C.; Most Original Services–Anishnabe Cuisine, Kitigan Zibi Kikinamadinan, Maniwaki, QC; Best Video–Alberni Creations, VAST Alternative School, Port Alberni, B.C.; Cultural Expression–A.C.K.X. AKA Pat, J.V. Humphries, Kaslo, B.C.; Most Innovative Marketing–Red Feather Bannock, Four Directions Storefront School, Kamloops, B.C.; Best Use of Technology–Skaabe Technology Training, Children of the Earth High School, Winnipeg; Environmental Awareness–rePhresh, Beattie School of the Arts–Pineridge Campus, Kamloops, B.C.; Best Team Spirit–Lively Look, Kitigan Zibi Kikinamadinan, Maniwaki,QC; E-Spirit Ambassador–Nike’kiso’qon Wenaqiaq, Chief Allison M. Bernard Memorial High School, Cape Breton, NS; Best Tradeshow Display–Skaabe Technology Training, Children of the Earth High School, Winnipeg; Best Presentation–The V Restaurant, Salmon Arm Secondary (Sullivan Campus), Salmon Arm, B.C.