The keen business plans of some Aboriginal students from Enderby, Armstrong and Vernon are competing nationally.
E-Spirit, a national business plan competition for Aboriginal youth, will see 160 Grade 10 to 12 students vie for awards at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, May 15 to 17.
Students from Enderby’s A.L. Fortune Secondary, Armstrong’s Pleasant Valley Secondary and Vernon’s W.L. Seaton will be among the participants from across the country.
The University of Manitoba, with its many programs designed for Aboriginal youth, is hosting these students during this 12th edition of The Business Development Bank of Canada’s (BDC) E-Spirit competition. The competition encourages Aboriginal youth to look to business and entrepreneurship as a viable career path.
Each of the Aboriginal high school students from across the nation will be presenting their business plans and will compete for the gold, silver and bronze trophy, as well as for one of 13 special achievement awards.
“We are striving to make Manitoba a centre of excellence for Indigenous education,” said Dr. David T. Barnard, president and vice-chancellor at the University of Manitoba.
“Celebrating student success is a key element of our strategy. We are proud to host the 2012 E-Spirit Aboriginal Youth Business Plan Competition and welcome future business leaders who plan to reshape their communities through entrepreneurship.”
The University of Manitoba will provide venues for several BDC E-Spirit events and on-campus accommodation for all the participating students. Seven teams from Manitoba qualified to compete in the business plan competition finals.
“This year, BDC E-Spirit has come full circle: the first edition of the competition launched in Winnipeg in 2001,” said Wilson Neapew, national director, Aboriginal banking unit at BDC.
“We want to thank the University of Manitoba, one of Canada’s premier hubs for Aboriginal education, for their support. Business plan competitions such as E-Spirit expose students to the potential of entrepreneurship and help them discover how communication technology can be used for business and networking purposes.”
For more details visit www.bdc.ca/espirit or join the conversation on Facebook at facebook.com/BDC.ESpirit and Twitter at @BDC_ESpirit.
E-Spirit is a 16-week, web-based competition for Aboriginal high school students that provides interactive business planning resources, online access to mentoring and extensive student networking opportunities, via the web and in person.
The E-Spirit competition was created and developed by BDC and is supported by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) and by the Secrétariat aux affaires autochtones, Government of Quebec.
