News

Young, budding aboriginal entrepreneurs are in Québec City for the sixth edition of E-Spirit, a business planning competition organized by BDC.

For the last 16 weeks, the students have developed their business plans and are now getting ready to network and present the results of their efforts.

"E-Spirit is a unique occasion for these students to learn hands-on the challenges involved in starting up a business and to discover the many opportunities entrepreneurship can bring," said Jean-René Halde, President and CEO, BDC. "The initiative focuses on education through different channels: the Internet, traditional classroom training as well as peer and community resources networking."

The E-Spirit program was developed by BDC and is supported by Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).

Laval University is hosting the 2006 competition, and the institution is offering a $1,000 bursary to one E-Spirit participant that can be applied to tuition at the university. The bursary recipient will be announced at a Gala dinner on Wednesday.

The participating Grade 10-12 students come from as far as Port Alberni, B.C. in the West; Iqaluit, Nunavut in the North and Northwest River, Newfoundland and Labrador in the East. Since last October, they have worked with Aboriginal mentors and technical advisors to turn their business concept into a concrete business plan on-line.

After completing the 16-week program, teams submitted their business plans to BDC. Today, teams will make formal presentations in front of a panel of judges made up of BDC employees, partner representatives, Aboriginal business owners, Université Laval staff and others.

Teams will present their product or service at a trade show being held on Wednesday, May 10 at the Centre des congrès de Québec. These displays represent the final element in the selection of winners.

"Participating students have worked hard to develop innovative products and services, most of which will be on display during the E-Spirit trade show. Many business ideas reflect the strong traditions of First Nations people, adapted to current trends," stated Jim Richardson, National Director, Aboriginal Banking, BDC. "Booths on display include a caterer from Baffin Island offering its corporate and government clients Inuit delicacies such as Caribou meat and Arctic char, a tattoo enterprise providing clients with non-permanent, ancestral ornamental tattoos, a web portal distributing Aboriginal art to global markets as well as a two-headed bear skin from Nunavut."

At a special awards dinner on Wednesday, May 10, prizes will be awarded to winning teams in the amounts of $2,500 for Gold, $1,500 for Silver and $750 for Bronze. In addition, nine special recognition awards are presented for: Most Innovative Marketing Concept, Most Original Product or Service, Outstanding Video Presentation, Best Team Spirit, Best Use of Technology, Most Original Business Name, Best Logo Design, Best Trade Show Display and Best Presentation.