More than 150 students from southeast Saskatchewan participated in the 2020 YouthBiz contest, a youth entrepreneurship contest offered by Community Futures (CF) Sunrise. To participate in YouthBiz, students had to be in Grade 6-12 in the southeast Saskatchewan region, and complete the entry requirements: create an audio commercial for their imagined business and answer key questions about that business idea.
“We’re thrilled that so many students took part in YouthBiz again this year. CF Sunrise has offered the YouthBiz contest in southeast Saskatchewan for 14 years, and this year we pivoted the program due to COVID. We weren’t able to visit regional schools in person this past fall, and needed to connect with students and teachers virtually,” commented Verna O'Neill, General Manager of CF Sunrise.
“Because businesses have been making a focused effort to reach customers online, YouthBiz addressed this shift as well, by encouraging students to create a digital audio commercial as part of the contest entry requirements. And students certainly demonstrated their creativity by submitting some excellent contest entries,” said O'Neill.
First place and $300 was awarded to Anushka Raulji from Weyburn, for her tutoring business, Elite Academy. Second Place and $200 was won by Amy Gilliland from Carievale, for her company, Jewelry by Amy. Third place and $100 was given to Payton Grad and Chloe Krienke from Weyburn, for their online clothing store, Clayton Designs.
YouthBiz winners and a sample of their entry materials are featured on the CF Sunrise website: www.cfsask.ca/sunrise
Additionally, Special Achievement Awards of $50 each were awarded to students demonstrating unique aspects to their YouthBiz entries.
The award for Social Responsibility was won by Kaitlyn Wild from Emerald Park, for her business Kaitlyn's Coasters. Kaitlyn described how she donates to cancer research from her business profits.
The best Business Slogan award was given to Carievale’s Sailor Cowan. Her business, SC Ranching had the slogan, “Live life like someone left the gate open!"
Korbyn Kaufman from Radville recorded a very expressive commercial for the business KK Berry Farm, and was recognized with the Effective Commercial Award.
Addison Laird and Winston Segeart from Radville used a unique approach in their audio commercial and won the Creative Commercial Format Award for their business Radville Canine Care Centre.
“A big thank you must go out to the teachers in our region, for encouraging students to participate in YouthBiz. Their commitment to youth entrepreneurship education is amazing, and this program continues to be successful because of their ongoing efforts,” commented O’Neill.
She also paid tribute to the 2020 YouthBiz sponsors, Weyburn Credit Union, Affinity Credit Union and SaskTel.
“These community-minded organizations have been extremely supportive of youth entrepreneurship, and the YouthBiz program for many years,” said O’Neill.
