It has been a busy and exciting summer at Community Futures in Drumheller as it wrapped up its first summer of youth entrepreneurship programming. 

Students Dave Pedersen and Mitch Toffan started the summer program with a Dragon’s Den-style event that ran from July 5-8. The support and involvement of community volunteers and business owners was invaluable - they offered prizes, support and encouragement to the five participants. Because of the event, two participants got Busker’s Licenses and two participants plan to run businesses next year.

Local business people, to help participants with starting and operating costs, provided prizes totaling $2,700.

Pitch Night was the final part of the Dragon’s Den event. Local business people again generously volunteered their time to provide useful and positive feedback. The participants were offered useful advice and a great opportunity for growth, appreciating the chance to be listened to and respected.

The rest of the summer was devoted to “I’m the Boss” entrepreneur camps for two age groups – Grades 4 – 6 and Grades 7 – 9. A total of 41 students participated in the camps, including a “pop-up store” that ran during the August long weekend

This was definitely an ambitious project for Community Futures Big Country, but the results were well worth it. The chance to introduce participants to entrepreneurship was priceless. In the space of a week, campers were excited to plan and operate their own businesses. Thank you to the community who embraced the “I’m the Boss” participants by supporting their businesses.

During the summer, campers profited over $5,000, giving them “hands-on” experience in operating their own businesses, along with a good taste of entrepreneurship. It was exciting to see their confidence and self-esteem increase during the week as they planned and saw their projects through.