'A huge win-win': Stratford's Summer Company Program helping launch student-led businesses
The Stratford Perth Centre for Business has helped launch seven new, small student-run businesses thanks to its annual Summer Company Program.
“It’s a huge win-win for everybody involved definitely,” said Holly Mortimer with the Stratford Perth Centre for Business.
The Summer Company Program is for those ages 15 to 29. It offers mentorship and provincial grants totalling $21,000.
The Cente for Business hopes the program helps young entrepreneurs gain transferable skills for the future.
“There’s obviously mathematics involved and sometimes signs involved and all those things but there’s also commitment and planning,” said Mortimer.
Evan Johnson, 15, built the brand Doggy Delights as an organic, healthy alternative snack for dogs.
“The peanut butter for example we chose peanut butter that is 100 per cent peanuts. There’s no sugar,” said Johnson.
Doggy Delights started in July 2021 and business is already booming with dozens of sales.
"Starting off where I started off, with the amount of sales that I’ve gotten, has been something to be proud of definitely,”
Johnson said.
BinTags just launched its website. The creator is 16-year-old Rachel Olsen.
BinTags offers customized vinyl address labels for garbage, recycling and green bins. It was a need Olsen said she noticed after spotting several spray-painted bins on her street in Stratford.
“I didn’t really look good because the paint was dripping and the right it was messy and it would easily rub off,” Olsen said.
Olsen said the money she got from the program was very helpful.
“I was able to buy my vinyl and my cutter and all the things that I need for launching,” said Olsen.
Participants receive a grant of $1,500 at the beginning of the program and then another $1,500 at the end of the program after their business successfully launches.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion, 1 person seriously injured: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Quebec to limit sperm donations per donor after 3 men from same family father hundreds of children
Quebec is looking at tightening the regulations around sperm donation in the province following the release of a documentary that revealed three men from the same family fathered hundreds of children.
How to overcome 'savings guilt' when you're living paycheque to paycheque
As the higher cost of living continues to squeeze household budgets, many Canadians find they have even less left over at the end of every month to squirrel away for the future.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.