Community Futures Wild Rose supporting young entrepreneurs

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Community Futures Wild Rose is supporting local entrepreneurial students, issuing startup funds to aid them in launching startup business ideas. 

“Our Young Entrepreneurs Training Initiative (YETI) …  this is our second year running this program and we invite and seek out youth who are between the age groups of Grades 10 to 12,” said Trisha Breault, community economic development coordinator for Community Futures Wild Rose. “It is basically an eight-week boot camp course for them, and so we run it from July to the end of August.”

Breault explained the first week of the boot camp consists of business basics sessions, followed by weekly presentations from experts in the students’ respective chosen fields. 

These presentations help the students to go over accounting, budgeting, goal setting, starting a business, and introduces the idea of beginning to network.

“We incorporate those sessions in throughout the summer for the kids and they can attend either virtually or in person this year,” said Breault. “I have a returning student from last year who is from Kneehill County, and I have a new student from Wheatland County who will be running her business in Strathmore, and so we are going to work with her a little bit on that.”

Students receive weekly coaching sessions going through their cashflow, as well as if and how to advertise more, and how to get more of their product or service out the door.

Breault added she will typically begin looking for sponsorships for the students to continue growing their businesses in September or October. 

“We give out $500 at the beginning of the program and that is like (the students’) injection of startup funds, and then they have to provide us with receipts of what they have spent that $500 on,” said Breault. “We have at the end of the program, a High Achiever Award, where they have the opportunity to win an additional $500 to go towards their business as well. They also have the opportunity if their school or principal approves it to earn up to three high school credits.”

The goal this year was to support five students as they begin to start up their businesses. Breault explained three students dropped out of the program, thus YETI will be supporting the two young entrepreneurs this summer. 

More information about the program, as well as how to apply is available online through the Community Futures Wild Rose website, with a like to the YETI program.