Approximately 170 students, forming 42 teams, participated in the Kootenay Entrepreneurship Start Up Showdown, including 60 students from College of the Rockies' Business Management and Tourism Management programs. Additional participants represented Mount Baker Secondary (50), Selkirk College (30), and Selkirk High School (30). The teams took part in a friendly competition to be the top bike company in the world, using a global business simulation platform.
College of the Rockies' Dean, Business, Arts and Science, instructor Becky Pelkonen, and Selkirk Secondary School's Entrepreneurship teacher, Jaimee Pichette, highlight three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the Kootenay Entrepreneurship Start Up Showdown.
Now in its third year, the Kootenay Entrepreneurship Program (KEP) offered through the regional partnership of College of the Rockies, Selkirk College, Kootenay Association for Science and Technology (KAST) who funded this year's program, and the participation of Mount Baker and Selkirk Secondary Schools, is a free program established to introduce entrepreneurship skills to youth, students, and graduates across the Kootenay-Boundary region.
"We believe entrepreneurial skills are incredibly useful life skills. This program aims to foster those skills in our participants," said Dr. Paul Tiege, Manager, Applied Research and Innovation at the College. "The intention of the program is to expose youth, students, and recent graduates in our region to the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, to generate interest in entrepreneurship as a career path, to provide skills training and experiences to aid in skills and career development, and to help direct participants into appropriate regional programming (e.g., existing business or related programs).
College Business and Tourism instructor Becky Pelkonen sees tremendous value in the Kootenay Entrepreneurship Program for students and was thrilled to see the inclusive nature of the competition, demonstrating the College's connection to the community.
"Joining the KEP and participating in events like the Kootenay Entrepreneurship Start Up Showdown are an exciting way for our business and tourism students, as well as high school students, to not only use what they are learning in the classroom to solve real-world simulations but also provide opportunities to expand their creativity, persistence, analytical thinking, and problem solving," she said. "It also provides experiences to students in our region that aid in skills and career development."
MikesBikes, the simulation introduced for the competition, featured a unique structure that allowed students to progressively take control over their own company, first determining the price and marketing mix for their only product, then, with each subsequent decision period, making decisions about distribution, operations and finance, and launching new products into emerging markets.
"Kootenay Association for Science and Technology (KAST) was thrilled to collaborate with both colleges to unite the East and West Kootenays for an epic showdown in business innovation! This program was made possible through funding from the Rural Economic Development and Infrastructure Program grant awarded to KAST for Youth Entrepreneurship," said Katie Wells, KAST Interim ED and CFO
The competition culminated on February 14 when the top two teams at each institution took part in the final pitch competition. At the end, the top-ranked team in the simulation competition was a Mt. Baker High School team consisting of Lukis Kneller and Nicholas Jensen.
Brent Jossy, Manager, Marketing and Brand Experience at Kootenay Savings, acted as one of the event judges, a memory that still brings a smile to his face.
"Kootenay Savings was thrilled to be part of the action," he said. "Watching high school and college students battle it out in the MikesBikes simulation - crafting business plans, thinking creatively, and experiencing the thrill of competition - was incredible. I think we witnessed the next generation of business leaders in the making."
Learn more about College of the Rockies' business programs at: cotr.ca/business
