At the first-ever 100 Entrepreneurs Planting Seed$ competition in Halifax, 100 hopefuls between the ages of 17 and 24 pitched their business plans for a chance at $10,000 in “seed” money. The prize was funded by 100 businesspeople who participated in the event. Putting young entrepreneurs on the path to success started with four original thinkers.
Jacqui Rostek, a sales rep with Sutton Group – Professional Realty, along with Stefanie MacDonald, Allyson England and Amy Richard brainstormed on ways to inspire Halifax-area youth. They came up with the concept for the competition and within just five weeks they had invited applicants to apply with the help of Yes N.S., gathered a diverse panel of judges, arranged a venue for the competition finale and secured 100 seed money donors plus additional event sponsors.
“We couldn’t have pulled this together so quickly without the overwhelming community support,” says Rostek. “It was encouraging to see that local businesspeople wanted to contribute. The Lord Nelson hotel also kindly donated the venue.”
A panel of judges selected one winner – Canadian Cold Press Juices – to receive $10,000. This start-up company produces juice mainly from locally sourced fruits and vegetables. “Thanks to a youth organization, each applicant is now paired with a mentor in a similar line of work. That is really cool because whether or not they received funding, now they have that business connection, which can be invaluable,” says Rostek.
