Neither freezing temperatures nor strong competition from some of the top business schools in the west could stop Okanagan College business students as they cruised to four podium finishes at Enactus Western Canada Regionals over the weekend.
During a competition in which no other school was victorious in more than one competition, Okanagan College took the top spot in three challenges – the CWB Financial Education Challenge, the Scotiabank Environmental Challenge and the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge. The college also notched a runner-up showing in the Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge.
The college faced teams from 20 other institutions – more than 400 students participated in total – during the two-day event, which took place from Feb. 28 to March 1 in Calgary, Alta.
READ MORE: Okanagan College students capture silver medal at competition
The three winning regionals teams from the College punched their tickets to the Enactus National competition that will be held May 7 to 9 in Vancouver.
The college’s Entrepreneurship Challenge team, made up of students Isaac Hossmann, Tega Ovie, Sveta Pasko and Jake Pushor presented on Project Recharge, a solar-powered recharging platform designed to help people power up their devices on the go. The team was coached by professors Kyleen Myrah and Lynn Sparling.
“The great thing about Project Recharge is that there are so many viable settings the charging tables can benefit organizations, from the tourism sector to municipalities to schools, and they benefit the environment too. Getting a chance to showcase the project as a team was incredibly rewarding,” said Jake Pushor.
READ MORE: New tech training program at Okanagan College inspires high school students
Vernon’s Abby Lagerquist, Karsten Ensz, Mitchell Vanlerberg and Macy Burke comprised the Environmental or green team and were coached by professor Andrew Klingel. They took top spot in their challenge for their presentation on FruitSnaps, a project that utilizes leftover fruit from North Okanagan orchards that otherwise would go to waste to make health snacks for elementary students in School District 22.
Enactus OC is a student-run organization that has a long history of distinguishing itself in nation-wide competitions for its contributions to entrepreneurship and to the communities it serves.
More information about Enactus and the competition is available at enactus.ca
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