The winners for the 2019 YouthBiz competition were announced by Community Futures (CF) Sunrise, and $2,200 in prize money was awarded to students in southeast Saskatchewan for their efforts in describing their business ideas and developing business plans. This included the Junior Achievement company at the Comp, who won first place in their category and is shown in the first photo.
The second photo are the winners from St. Olivier School in Radville; the third photo is the St. Michael Grade 6 class which won a class award for eye-catching logos; the fourth photo are the winners from Midale Central School; and the fifth photo is the class award to Grade 6 from Assiniboia Park School.
This year, 212 students from 12 schools registered to compete in the youth contest.
In the Grade 6-8 category, first place and $500 in prize money was awarded to Brynn Fettes and Ashlyn Becker of Radville for their horse riding and training business, Broken Spur.
Second place and $300 went to Sadie McFadden and Harper Stewart of Radville for their marine education centre, Biology Bay. Third place and $150 was awarded to Vianne Marquart of White City for her sports store, Sticks ‘N Rings Ringette Shop.
In the Grade 9-12 category, first place and $500 went to the Entrepreneurship 30 class at Weyburn Comprehensive School for their business Soup ‘R Snacks. Jennifer Wiebe and Rebecca Bleasdale of Midale earned second place and a prize of $300 for their business Infinite Designs. Third place and $150 was awarded to Rhea Sturgeon and Jaylyn Prawdzik for their company Bunnyhop Cafe.
“This is the 13th year for YouthBiz and over the years we’ve seen approximately 2,600 young people in southeast Saskatchewan discover the world of small business. YouthBiz allows students to explore the business world by developing skills needed to be an entrepreneur. They write about a business idea that they’ve dreamed up and evaluate the potential profitability of their venture. Students work hard to develop their business plans, and they connect with the small business community as they research their ideas. Teachers and students agree that they learn so much from their participation in YouthBiz,” commented Verna O’Neill of CF Sunrise.
Achievement Awards were given to students whose entries displayed outstanding qualities, worthy of special recognition.
Students from Assiniboia Park Elementary School in Weyburn earned a group award for the Detailed Sales Calculations they performed on their Income Sheets. Hannah Adams and Jersey Barber from Carievale won an award due to the excellent Community and Market Description in their business plan.
Aisha Block, Alyssa Schweigert and Ashley Neb from Macoun described the high Product Quality Standards of their market garden products, earning an award for their efforts. An award for Product Prototypes went to Elora Holman and Hallee Shaver from Estevan for the doghouse prototypes they built in preparation for their YouthBiz contest entry.
The award for Innovative Business Idea was won by Mhio Tallayo and Hope Bod of Estevan for their compost business, Fertile Acres. The Grade 6 class at St. Michael School in Weyburn won an award for the Eye-Catching Logos they submitted with their YouthBiz entries.
YouthBiz winners and samples of their entry materials are featured on the CF Sunrise website: www.cfsask.ca/sunrise. Mentorship was provided by schools in the region, and the contest was supported by sponsors including Information Services Corp., Weyburn Credit Union, Affinity Credit Union and SaskTel.
