What business would you create to take advantage of Irving Shipbuilding Inc.?s $25-billion contract to build the next fleet of warships at the Halifax Shipyard?
That was the challenge 160 students were given on the first day of an international Junior Achievement conference at Saint Mary?s University this week.
The Next Generation Leaders Forum, a one-week crash course on leadership, entrepreneurialism and solving real-life business challenges, wrapped up Friday with the Ultimate Business Challenge.
Each team had 10 minutes to pitch a business idea to panel of judges, like the Dragons? Den reality television show for high school students.
After five highly caffeinated days of brainstorming, research and late nights, each team presented its company.
From a human resources outsourcing firm to an urban infrastructural renewal outfit, each team laid out their business plan and how they would take advantage of the multibillion-dollar, 30-year shipbuilding contract.
The winner was expected to be announced at an event Friday night.
Lynn Coveyduck, president and chief executive officer of Junior Achievement Nova Scotia, said the business challenge was a chance for conference delegates to apply what they had learned throughout the week.
?The students have been participating in a series of lectures by Saint Mary?s professors and guest lecturers,? she said.
Business leaders such as Saeed El-Darahali, president and CEO of SimplyCast, and Julia Rivard, the president and CEO of SheepDog Inc., came and talked with the students, Coveyduck said.
?Then the students worked together to apply their knowledge to the final business challenge.?
The Crew, a team of six bright-eyed entrepreneurs, pitched the idea of ?environmentally friendly sustainable housing? to serve the city?s growing population.
Crew Communities? residential housing units would cater to Halifax?s growing middle class with affordable, simple apartment complexes.
?We started by brainstorming lots of ideas and coming up with basic strategies and concepts,? Jivetesh Chhatwal, a 17 year-old high school student from St. John?s, N.L., said in an interview.
?We had some long discussions, and then after several rounds of voting, we narrowed it down to three and eventually picked the best one. Then we started to build on the idea and innovate ways to make it a viable enterprise.?
Fellow team partner Megan Badley, a 16-year-old Toronto native, said the team?s brainstorming focused on the problems any city may face with an influx of workers and economic activity.
?We didn?t want to suggest a company directly related to shipbuilding because we thought it might be redundant. So, instead, we focused on the problems or needs a city would have as a result of a bigger population and more economic activity.?
In addition to 15 students from Nova Scotia, the conference delegates hailed from 10 countries, including China, Norway and Jamaica.
?It is a multinational, multicultural exchange of knowledge and ideas,? Stephen Ashworth, acting president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Canada, said in a news release.
?Junior Achievement plays an important role in helping students prepare for and make an impact in the future, and the (forum) provides these future leaders a unique opportunity to work together to build new skills, new relationships and new global perspectives.?
(bbundale@herald.ca)
Source: http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/127573-junior-achievers-pitch-business-ideas-at-conference
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