BRC Wins EDCO Award of Excellence

The City of Brantford Economic Development & Tourism Department is pleased to share that on Thursday, January 31, 2019, the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) awarded the Brantford-Brant Business Resource Enterprise Centre (BRC) with the Regional and Cross-Border Collaboration & Partnership Award of Excellence. The award was presented to the BRC in recognition of their creation and delivery of the StudentBiz program – Developing High School Entrepreneurs.

StudentBiz fosters high school entrepreneurship by providing students in the region with an opportunity to learn skills in a hands-on learning environment with the ability to earn two co-op credits through their local high schools. The program was delivered in partnership with the Grand Erie District School Board, the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, Venture Norfolk, Workforce Planning of Grand Erie, and the municipal Economic Development and Tourism Departments in Haldimand, Norfolk, the County of Brant and Brantford.

The BRC created and facilitated the training curriculum and helped students in creating their own business plans and financial documents. Students who successfully completed the program had the opportunity to apply to the provincially-funded Summer Company grant program.

The municipal Departments involved provided one-on-one mentoring and support from local entrepreneurs within their communities, physical locations for training and staff support throughout the program period. The initial projection for student engagement was a total of 15 students (5 from each of the local area offices) with the expectation that 10 students would work on their businesses throughout the summer. In actuality, 22 students registered and participated in the program and 13 students successfully started and operated their own businesses in the summer of 2018.

Going forward, the BRC will continue to build on the success of the StudentBiz program, with the goal of fostering a dynamic community of young entrepreneurs in the City of Brantford, County of Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk Counties.

For more information, please contact Mae Legg, Sr. Small Business Consultant, Brantford-Brant Business Resource Enterprise Centre, at mlegg@brantford.ca