Andrew
Kolb, a student in Conestogas Graphic Design program, has used his skills
to contribute to the winning team in what is known as the LaunchPad 50K
Venture Creation Competition.
In LaunchPad, emerging entrepreneurs, including students from Conestoga and the three area universities (Waterloo, Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier) develop and present plans for new ventures to a panel of judges from the business and investment community. The idea for the competition, promoted by Communitech, is to bring together students, alumni and others, for the purpose of developing business plans that can be turned into viable, sustainable and scalable new enterprises.
The three top winning proposals share $50,000 in money and in-kind services.
The first-place proposal, called The Nesting Space, won $12,500 in cash and a similar amount in business services. The proposal was developed by Wilfrid Laurier graduate Christine Robinson, along with team members Brent Steinmann, a current business student at Laurier, and Conestogas Kolb.
The
Nesting Space is a novel parent-and-child facility. The idea is to establish
a friendly, welcoming, accessible place that can serve both parents and
children. For the children, there are play areas and day care services;
for the parents, educational and learning resources, as well as wellness
programs. Robinson hopes to open her first centre in Waterloo, but one
of the strong features of her proposal is that it is a concept that can
be replicated in other neighborhoods and cities, meaning that The Nesting
Space could offer franchising potential.
Kolb is from Kitchener. His contribution to the team included concept designs and applications with regard to the business logo, branding campaign, wordmark, business cards and other business items. In addition, he was instrumental in development of the business plan layout and what was known as the techvibe presentation - an interactive networking exhibition and competition.
Communitech
is based in Waterloo Region. It is a business, industry and education
partnership organization dedicated to advancing Waterloo Regions technology
sector through leadership, outreach alliances and promotion.
CONTACT: Julia Biedermann, 519-748-5220, ext. 3212