CONESTOGA COLLEGE
Student entrepreneurs awarded grants through new CSI and CEC partnership

Three students were recognized with a CSI x CEC Venture Award on April 19, each receiving $1,000 to put toward their business goals.

CSI - the official student association at Conestoga - wanted to support student entrepreneurs to pursue their potential, pledging $10,000 over two years to provide grants to students starting new businesses in the CEC Venture Lab. Each year, five participants will receive $1,000 to assist with business needs.

"Students are innovative and creative, and many of them have dreams to solve real-world problems and support the community with their ideas," said Nelson Chukwuma, CSI president. "The entrepreneurial spirit is alive in youth, but one of the barriers is funding and that's why we at CSI created this grant to provide support in whatever way we can and to encourage our students to never give up."

This partnership with the CEC provides pathways and programming to empower members of the Conestoga community to pursue their entrepreneurship potential.

This year's recipients:

* Jayden Heidebrecht, Welding Techniques program - Full Power Metal Works, a mobile welding repairs and services business.

* Shane Hall, Computer Programming and Analysis program - HallMarkIt, providing sustainable custom mailer boxes and packaging.

* Haiyan Yuan, Computer Systems Technician - Information Technology Infrastructure and Services program - LocoTap, an app to help international students thrive in Kitchener-Waterloo by helping them find part-time jobs, an affordable place to live, events and marketplace deals.

"It was very inspiring to meet winners in three different industries. It showcases that the CEC is building a network of entrepreneurs that will contribute to economic diversity, and that our students are using the skills they've learnt in the classroom and integrating them into everyday life," Chukwuma said.

Applicants are required to showcase their creativity, innovation and experience in the Conestoga community. They need to submit an essay about their journey at the college and how it helped shape their entrepreneurial venture, a pitch deck outlining their new venture idea, and a video pitch showcasing the applicant themselves and their business plan.

Hall is incredibly thankful for the financial support to launch his business idea.

"I would like to say a huge thank you to the donors of this award. I am truly grateful for your generosity. Your support has a profound impact on students like me, by enabling us to pursue our educational and career goals with greater confidence and determination," Hall said.

"I am committed to making the most of this opportunity and hope to one day give back to others in a similar way."

Conestoga Students Inc. is the official student association of Conestoga, representing the student voice across various municipalities in Ontario. CSI has a mission to enhance the student experience and student success by providing a variety of student services at a cost justified by the results.

The Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective was created to support the specific needs of Conestoga students, deliver unique offerings to the entrepreneurship community and provide programming that would create room for collaboration in the broader ecosystem. Multiple pathways have been created to allow students to choose an experience that matches their skills, aspirations and definitions of success.

The collective recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and the many success stories along the way.