The Experience Entrepreneurship program and the culminating Venture Challenge competition are both funded by the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment.
Select students participating in the program were chosen to present their business plans to a panel of judges who then chose the winners based on a variety of criteria.
Brady Borrmann, a student in the Mechanical Engineering - Technology, Robotics and Automation program was one of the students who took advantage of this free program and was chosen to participate in the Venture Challenge.
“Creating the business plan was an intense learning experience for me,” said Borrmann. “I was excited just to be one of the people chosen to present.”
Borrmann placed first in the competition and won $1000 as seed money towards his business idea, an online store that sells electronics kits and components to fellow engineers.
Borrmann credits the program with giving him the confidence to focus his ideas and shape his business idea.
“When I started the entrepreneurship program I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t entirely sure how to start,” he said. “The centre set me up with a mentor who helped me focus my idea into something that was feasible.”
The Experience Entrepreneurship program is run through the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Conestoga. Developed with support from industry and community partners, the centre fosters small business creation and encourages students, alumni and faculty from all programs to bring an entrepreneurial approach to learning and work.
The Centre for Entrepreneurship also offers practical business advice, working to help students develop leadership skills and building creativity and innovation.
For Borrmann, once he finishes his full-time schooling at Conestoga he’s not sure what his plans are, although he believes he has the start of a good idea.
“I feel that winning the competition is a good sign,” said Bormann. “It’s always nice when other people agree that you have a good idea.”
For more information on the Experience Entrepreneurship program, visit the website.