(CALGARY) 5 March 2018 – Students at Thompson Rivers University launched a social enterprise that employs at-risk youth to upcycle used coasters into greeting cards.
In an effort to tackle the high unemployment rate in Salmon Arm, a student team at Okanagan College started Shuswap Launch-A-Preneur, a three-month program that helps aspiring entrepreneurs develop business plans and secure funding.
These two Enactus teams have been named 2018 TD Entrepreneurship Challenge Regional Champions by Canada’s largest experiential learning platform, Enactus Canada, and program supporter TD Bank Group.
“Entrepreneurship plays an essential role in the long-term economic success and sustainability of our country,” said Nicole Almond, President of Enactus Canada. “This challenge helps us promote entrepreneurial growth across Canada.”
In their seventh month of operation, Enactus TRU’s Coast Cards has created three transitional jobs, diverted 165 coasters from landfills, and has generated $785 in revenue.
Enactus Okanagan College’s Shuswap Launch-A-Preneur has created 44 new businesses, adding 78 new full-time and 15 part-time jobs in the Salmon Arm community.
The TD Entrepreneurship Challenge is a national competition empowering post-secondary students to develop and deliver projects that teach entrepreneurial skills to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs. Since 2007, 14,996 students have delivered over 2,000 entrepreneurship projects, exposing 105,869 people to entrepreneurship as a viable career path.
Student teams demonstrated the impact of their entrepreneurial projects to panels of business executives on March 2 in Calgary as part of the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition – Western Canada.
Enactus Thompson Rivers University and Enactus Okanagan College will now move on to the national level of competition taking place May 14-16 at the 2018 Enactus Canada National Exposition in Toronto.
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ABOUT ENACTUS CANADA: Enactus Canada, a national charity and the country’s largest post-secondary experiential learning platform, is shaping entrepreneurial leaders who are passionate about advancing the economic, social and environmental health of Canada. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, more than 3,300 post-secondary students led 275 community empowerment projects and business ventures last year in communities coast to coast, positively impacting over 26,000 lives.
As a global network of 36 countries, Enactus uses the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. For more information, visit enactus.ca.
Media Inquiries:
Jennifer Falzon
Director, Marketing & Strategic Growth, Enactus Canada
jen@enactus.ca | 416.304.1566 x222