The Stratford Perth Centre for Business is encouraging local students to apply for this year's Summer Company Program.
The program is available for post-secondary and high school students, and provides grants up to $3,000 through the provincial program to help young people try out entrepreneurship. Holly Mortimer, SPBC Business Advisor, says the program has many people involved helping the students.
"So it's myself and a team of mentors answering any and all questions. As they move through the program, they have a bunch of community partnerships, as well, that are kind of built into the program to help them along," Mortimer said.
Mortimer says they will administer the program locally with eight students this year, and she stresses that turning a profit is by no means a measure of success in the program.
"Obviously that's a great piece to running your business, but it's not the thing that's our success measure. Really, we want to see if entrepreneurship is of interest to them. And if it isn't that's great, too, because we don't want students getting involved in business programs, say, and then discovering a year or two in that they don't like it and they've taken out student loans or something, and now they're dropping out of it. We want to see if the kids actually take to it," Mortimer noted.
Some businesses that are launched by the students will have differing requirements in terms of the expertise they receive, like landscaping for example, but Mortimer says the program features a lot of hands-on training with experts on a number of different topics that are mainstays for anyone in the program.
"Budgeting, tax prep, general accounting, general networking and marketing, how to market on social media, how to build a website. Those are general things that are always happening," she added.
Eight spots are available this year through the Stratford Perth Centre for Business, and a link to apply is available at https://tinyurl.com/3bhe4zjp. Applications are due no later than May 16.
“This important program from the Province of Ontario, and the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade allows us to continue to deliver mentorship, training and support to the next generation of business owners. I’m grateful for their continued support of young entrepreneurs through the Summer Company Grant program,” added Joani Gerber, CEO, investStratford.
More information can be found at StratfordPerthBusiness.ca. Spots will be filled on a first-come, first serve basis.