E-Spirit Competition
First
Place
in Business Plan Competition on a National Scale
Two
Bathurst
High students from Pabineau First Nation attended a national
business competition in
Saskatchewan
Two Bathurst High students represented Pabineau First Nation
at a national business competition in
Saskatchewan.
Stephanie Peter-Paul and Michelle Kelly attended the eighth
annual BDC E-Spirit Aboriginal Youth Business Plan Competition, held
in Regina
from May 12th to 14th, 2008.
Approximately
60 First Nation teams from across Canada
participated, that was comprised of one to six Aboriginal students
from grades 10 through 12.
The
competition was launched on October 19, 2007.
To attend the BDC E-Spirit gathering in Regina, all teams were
required to submit a written business plan and video presentation by
February 22, 2008.
At the BDC
E-Spirit gathering, they presented their business plan slide show
presentation before a panel of judges as well as mentors,
facilitators, elders, and peers.
In addition, they also presented their business plan by trade
booth display.
Stephanie
Peter-Paul and Michelle Kelly won first place for Oral Presentation,
first place for Best Logo, first place for Best Trade Show Display,
and Gold Prize (first place) for their business plan.
For Gold Prize, both Stephanie and Michelle received a $2,500
award incentive.
Facilitator for this program was Rose Kryszko who mentored and
coached the students throughout their business plan. They were also
mentor/coached by Cindy Peter Paul for their Power Point
presentation along with their Trade Show display.
Their
business project, Camp
Mukluk, is designed to teach the youth of
New Brunswick about the lifestyles and
culture of Aboriginal people. Camp Mukluk is designed to offer recreation and adventure
while promoting tourism to
New Brunswick.
The Chief,
Council, parents, and community members are very proud of both
Stephanie and Michelle.
They are smart students and
we know they will do
extremely well when they go to college or university.
In
representing the Pabineau First Nation and Bathurst High School at this event, Peter-Paul and
Kelly learned about what is required to make informed choices about
their education and career paths.
While having
the opportunity to meet other aboriginal students aspiring to become
entrepreneurs, the students also increased their awareness of
entrepreneurial, business opportunities, management, business
skills,
e-commerce and technological capacitates.
The five day
trip included two full days of
traveling and three days of scheduled activities.
Monday was Presentation Day; Tuesday was Workshops,
Entertainment, and Finalist Presentation Day; and Wednesday was the
Tradeshow and Awards Gala.
On the third day, Peter-Paul
and Kelly had a chance to visit the RMCP training grounds.
They had a taste of what it’s like to be a business person,
while having fun at the same time.
The students
are very excited to bring back three
awards and the Gold Prize.
They indicated that they will definitely attend next years
E-Spirit Aboriginal Business Plan Competition.
Winners are
posted on the E-Spirit website at
www.bdc.ca/espirit.
