Winners of the 2012 YouthBiz competition were announced on December 13, 2012. A total of $2,400 in prize money was awarded to students in southeast Saskatchewan for their efforts in describing their business ideas and developing business plans.
This year, 249 students registered to compete in this innovative youth business competition. YouthBiz is a youth contest offered by Community Futures (CF) Sunrise.
In the Grade 10 to 12 category, First Place and $500 in prize money went to Cody Kretschmer of Weyburn for his venture Kprize Company, a resort and campground. Second Place and $300 was awarded to Kylie Hutt of Weyburn for her business Hutt's Vet Deals on Wheels, a mobile vet clinic. Third Place and $150 went to Kelsie Druck of Weyburn for the business Forever After Funeral Chapel.
In the Grade 6 to 9 category, First Place and $500 in prize money was awarded to Payton Spencer and Olivia Bocian of Weyburn for their chocolate bar store, Scrumpditilylumpcious. Second Place and $300 went to Brogan Regier of Weyburn her business Clip-It and Accessories. Third Place and $150 was awarded to Madison Meston of Radville for her idea, Cupcake Corner.
"2012 marks the seventh year this youth business competition has been offered by CF Sunrise," said Verna O'Neill of CF Sunrise. "YouthBiz aims to assist young people in experiencing what it's like to be a business owner. Students plan out all facets of their imagined business idea and describe their business set-up process. Some students have commented that they plan to implement their ideas and make money in the summer or after graduating!"
Achievement Awards were also given to students whose entries displayed outstanding qualities. Jenna Pattyson of Yellow Grass received an award for her "Future Ambition" of attending cooking school and opening a restaurant after graduating from Grade 12. Dylan Aeichele of Estevan won an award for his "Start-Up Ready" entry, Dylan's Window Washing. A mathematics smartphone app called the Pythagorean App was the idea entered by Joshua Fenwick and Taeuk Nam of Estevan. They were awarded an "Innovative Business Idea" award for their efforts in integrating their love of math and smartphone technology into a business idea.
The Grade Six class at Queen Elizabeth School in Weyburn were recognized for their outstanding work on their businesses Income Sheets. Caroline Manning and Emma Wiens of Weyburn were awarded a prize for their ideas to engage customers with instore promotions in their café and bookstore. Innovative marketing tools were used by Sara McClung of Carnduff when describing her business plan for her company, Gardens of Eden. Kaitlyn Alexander of Macoun School demonstrated the characteristic of a true entrepreneur when she said she planned to sell her profitable company to fund the start-up of another business venture!
Visit sunrisecommunityfutures.com/youth_biz for a closer look at all of the YouthBiz winner submissions.
