Seven young, local entrepreneurs recently received a total of $21,000 in grant funding through the Government of Ontario and Stratford Perth Center for Business’ Summer Company Program.
Seven young, local entrepreneurs are receiving mentorship and financial support for their summer businesses thanks to the Government of Ontario and Stratford Perth Center for Business’ Summer Company program.
On Wednesday, five of the seven student business owners between the ages of 15 and 29, joined business center staff, Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson and Perth-Wellington MPP Matt Rae for an official program-launch luncheon at Jobsite Brewery in Stratford. Across their seven companies, which range from agricultural services and property maintenance to environmentally friendly candles and online entertainment, the young entrepreneurs received grants totaling $21,000 or about $3,000 each funded through the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
“So they get a $3,000 grant that is provided by the province in order to help students enrolled in secondary or post-secondary education explore entrepreneurship in their time off school,” said Holly Mortimer, a business advisor at the Stratford Perth Center for Business. ” … The metric that we’re looking for isn’t so much revenue based, but it’s experiential. So, ‘When you’re done, what did you learn?’ But also, “Do you think you’d like to pursue entrepreneurship in the future?’
“…It’s one of the joys of my year. I absolutely love working with young entrepreneurs. They’re super excited, they’re incredibly hardworking, and I’m really, really happy we were able to launch them out into the community.”
While the grant funding, half of which is distributed at the beginning of the summer while the other half comes in when the program ends, is certainly helpful in the procurement of supplies, materials and marketing, it’s really the mentorship from other local businesses and the business center that’s most valuable.
Noah Rusen-Steele, for example, is a 20-year-old Queen’s University student who has been running his business, Clear Cut Paint Co., with friends Zac McCann and Callan Furguson over the past nearly four summers.
“I thought the grant program would be a great opportunity, mainly because of the access to different kinds of business mentors to help with things like HST registration, registering as a business in the first place, and all kinds of access to assistance,” Rusen -Steele said.
“It’s been instrumental. There’s just lots of tricky things when it comes to the technicalities and just the different insurances you need and things along those lines to make sure you’re doing things the right way. It’s great that I have those contacts.”
Rusen-Steele says he’s enjoyed running his summer business so much that he’s even considering changing his major from health sciences to commerce.
Blythe Trudgeon, a recent St. Michael Catholic Secondary School graduate and owner of the brand-new mobile car-detailing company, BT Stratford Interiors, said she’s also grateful for the funding and support through the Summer Company program.
“I’ll come to you and I’ll detail the interior of your car in your driveway, in the street you live on or any requested location,” Trudgeon said. “…I actually put Holly; she came into my classroom at St. Mike’s earlier this year and she told me all about the program, about the grant, and I was just so into it.”
Like Rusen-Steele, Trudgeon said she’s really benefitted from the knowledge and experience shared by members of the local business community.
“With Holly’s help, I was able to figure out what legal things I needed to sign, what needs to be sent in to the government and certain things that I can hold off on since I am only an 18-year-old and I’ m my only employee,” Trudgeon said. “…I’ve just about already spent my grant money. It was really nice because I was able to buy good chemicals and products to use on people’s vehicles. … With the grant money I was able to (do my research) and figure out what products will benefit my customers the most.”
The application period for next year’s Summer Company program will open on Jan. 1, 2023.