FIVE DOLLARS, FIVE DAYS, ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES
Niagara College Business students take on $5 Challenge

They only have $5 and five days but the sky's the limit for business students embarking on Niagara College's inaugural $5 Challenge.

The challenge kicked off on the morning of Monday, March 9, when teams of students received $5 and a mission: to use their own talents and resources to grow their seed money as much as possible in a financial or social venture - and the clock is ticking.

On Friday, March 13 at 3 p.m., students must submit their cash earnings and present how they leveraged their $5 at a wrap-up event before a panel of judges. In the end, a winner will be announced in both the financial and social categories.

A team of Niagara College Business students are ready for the $5 challenge. Ryan Kemp, Chirag Grover, David Kogan and Abdulrahman Awad plan to set up a photography and retouching stand.
 

Presented by the College's entrepreneurship hub, ncTakeOff, about 150 students from NC's School of Business are participating in the $5 Challenge as part of their Entrepreneurship class.

Faculty member Cammie Jaquays, who launched the initiative, noted that the $5 Challenge is a valuable experiential learning opportunity that promotes entrepreneurship and creativity.

"The $5 Challenge builds confidence in students. For many, this will be the first time they will have ever tried to launch a business," said Jaquays. "It teaches students that they don't need money. When they tap into their inner resources - their skills, talents and creativity - recognize the opportunities and needs in the market, and pull together with their team, it's amazing what they can accomplish."

The initiative may be basic, but it is foundational, according to Dawit Eshetu, associate dean, bachelor degrees and graduate programs for the College's School of Business. Eshetu noted that it aligns with the College's strategic priorities of fostering creativity, innovative skills and entrepreneurial thinking.

"It is truly an experiential learning opportunity linked to courses within the School," he said. "A growing number of our students are aiming at starting their own ventures. Initiatives like this one provide students the opportunity to bring learned concepts and entrepreneurial spirit into practice."

Team of Business Administration - Marketing students Ryan Kemp, Chirag Grover, David Kogan and Abdulrahman Awad are using their $5 to set up a photography and retouching stand at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus where they plan to take photos and headshots for students to use for business profile sites, like LinkedIn. They will also retouch and edit photos sent to them.

"We're taking skills we learned from another class and applying them to our Entrepreneurship class," noted Kogan. "I think it will definitely help our skillset and we're setting up a service to help other people."

Business Administration - Marketing students Laurene Carter and Riley Taglialatela are writing inspirational quotes and compliments on rocks and selling them on campus, and using social media to market them under the hashtag you rock.' They hope to make a difference and help brighten the lives of their fellow students.

"I've never done anything like this before so I'm excited to see how it's going to go ... to see what it's really like to run a business from scratch," said Taglialatela.

"Everyone is creative in their own way and we're getting in touch with our creative side, learning to be entrepreneurs and building a business," said Carter.

Business Administration - Marketing students Laurene Carter and Riley Taglialatela are writing inspirational quotes and compliments on rocks and selling them for the $5 Challenge.
 

The $5 Challenge's wrap-up event will be held at the Armoury (Niagara-on-the-Lake campus) on Friday, March 13 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.  The event was made possible by the generous donation of main sponsor KPMG.

Two student group winners will receive the opportunity to work on the next steps of their entrepreneurship journey with a start-up prize package, sponsored by Spark Niagara and the St. Catharines Enterprise Centre (SCEC).

Spark Niagara has donated a three-month membership at the Niagara Falls Ryerson Innovation Hub and Spark Niagara offices in downtown Niagara Falls which includes access to desk space to work alongside 40 entrepreneurs, six hours of consulting/ coaching services from their experts in residence, and access to educational and social events.

SCEC, which works with hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs each year, has donated one-hour of mentorship and access to monthly workshops and a guest speaker series.

The winners will be selected by a panel of judges including Scott Plugers (senior manager, audit, KPMG), Brian Law (senior manager, RBC Royal Bank), Adriann Knight (business information officer, SCEC), David D'Angelo (director of strategy and business development at the Niagara Falls Ryerson Innovation Hub/Spark Niagara), Jeffrey Sinclair (homelessness action plan advisor, Niagara Region), Tom Price (president, NC Student Administrative Council ), Holly Catalfamo (associate dean, NC School of Business), and Dawit Eshetu (associate dean, NC  School of Business).

NCSAC has donated space for the wrap-up event, as well as for student use during the $5 Challenge.

Twenty percent of the money raised by each team will be donated to the NCSAC's Nourishing Minds program which provides grocery gift cards to students in need.