Sponsors key to young entrepreneur program
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Norfolk County's popular Student Student Start Up Program has returned.
The award-winning SSUP Norfolk venture aims to assist and mentor student entrepreneurs from Grades 6 to 12 with their various business ideas.
In 2017 alone, the county received 188 applications and awarded 94 youngsters $200 cash. Bonuses of $100 were also given to those students that completed a year-end report. Those numbers were a dramatic increase from the first year of the SSUP.
“Norfolk County can proudly boast that entrepreneurs grow here,” Jerry Sucharyna, an economic development analyst for Norfolk County’s tourism and economic development department, said in a release. “Let’s keep... the momentum to surpass the previous years and continue to be the envy of others through our support and chatter about the great things that Norfolk County does to support our youth.”
In the last two years, the program has garnered more than 270 applications resulting in 158 new business start-ups. The program runs due to area sponsors and business mentors.
A variety of start ups including home decor and interior decorating featuring paintings and artwork made from re-purposed wooden skids to magic/entertainment for parties and social events have been approved in past years.
“You want to ensure that students and kids are thinking outside of the box – not just thinking about getting a job but the other option of owning and operating your own business,” said Chris Garwood, economic development supervisor with Norfolk County.
“If we have young people start businesses early, that helps to anchor them into the community. Oftentimes they go off to universities and so on and they never return. If they have a small business, they're going to go off to university and come back to the business and that's part of our youth retention strategy.”
For more information visit http://www.norfolkbusiness.ca/ssup-norfolk/. The deadline for applications is June 15 at 4:30 p.m. Those successful will be notified by June 22.
Garwood said the more participation the better. The goal, he added, is to exceed last year's application numbers.
“We want to go even higher, as long as we can get the participation of business sponsors,” he added.
“We have some funding through the county, but for us to reach the amount of students that we would love to, our business partners, we're going to rely on them heavily. We're excited about the program and look forward to having even more students participating.”
jrobinson@postmedia.com