TRAIL, BC – Young entrepreneurs will compete for cash to support their small business dreams at the Junior Dragons Den Championship taking place in Trail this Saturday.
The event, organized by Community Futures Greater Trail, will feature the winning business concepts from regional competitions that took place earlier this year in West Kootenay Boundary and the Peace Liard regions of British Columbia. Young entrepreneurs will compete in three age categories – Junior (grades 7 to 10), Senior (grades 11-12) and Post Secondary – with between $500 to $1,500 in prize money on the line for the winners.
Here’s the line up of competitors for the Junior Dragons Den Championship:
Junior category
Peterson Cryogenic Labs, Myles Peterson, Stanley Humphries Secondary
Selkirk Sea glass, Katherine Wall, St. Joseph’s School
Spruce It Up – Austin Lundgard, Tumbler Ridge Secondary
Welcome Home Décor- Rebekah Syme, Salmo Secondary
Senior category
Taking Back Neverland – Katelin Blunden and Keona Osbourne, Tumbler Ridge Secondary
Peer Music – Lily Knowles and Seth Merry, Tumbler Ridge Secondary
College/ University category
Academy Care Box – Vanessa Ford & Josh Skinner, Selkirk College
Virtual Realty of the Kootenays- Victoria Danylenko, Nicolas Bonacci, Austin Forry and Sheldon Farenholtz, Selkirk College
Wild Kootenay Honey – Cameron Olsen, Okanagan University College
“Our panel of Dragons will judge submissions based on finances, marketability, the product or service idea, and the plan presented,” explained Erik Kalacis of Community Futures Greater Trail. “The audience also gets to vote for their favourite business ideas, and that’s factored into the results.”
There’s no limit on what the competitors can pitch as a business idea – as long as they have the business plan to support it. Past competitions have seen students with plans to create mobile apps, clothing lines and food products. Some of the business ideas are in the idea phase and others already exist.
“Part of the challenge for our Dragons is to compare two totally different business ideas that may be in completely different stages of development. It really comes down to the individual or team pitching the idea and the case they make for their business,” Kalacis said.
Junior Dragons’ Den started as a West Kootenay-Boundary wide student business competition four years ago and has since expanded throughout the province with two regional competitions and a championship. The competition format is modeled after CBC’s “The Dragons’ Den”.
The fifth annual Junior Dragons Den Championship will take place at the Charles Bailey Theatre in Trail on Saturday, May 8. Doors open at 5:30pm. The event is free and open to the public. Audience members also have a chance to enter the “Junior Dragons Den” photo contest. Entry is simple, submit your favorite picture taken at the show, and tell your friends to vote on the Junior Dragons Den FB page. The contest will be live online from Monday May 7th to Wednesday May 9th at midnight. Up for grabs is round trip airfare for one person, between Trail and Vancouver with Pacific Coastal Airlines.
For more information, visit juniordragonsden.com.