Rising to the challenge
Students look for ways to facilitate healthy, successful start-ups
TRURO, N.S. – If Kraig Bates was to start his own business, financial backing and support in case of failure would be essential.
These were just some of the ideas put forward at Challenge Nova Scotia to support startup businesses. The event was held at Nova Scotia Community College’s Truro campus Nov. 22. The winning idea will be forwarded to Premier Stephen Mcneil, giving students an opportunity at a say in how the province is run.
“It would be very important to have a good mentorship program from the government, maybe someone to provide some guidance and financial backing,” said Bates, one of the participating students. “If it fails, I wouldn’t be homeless. It’s okay to fail and if you do, it’s not the end of the world.”
A total of 30 students in four teams took part in Challenge Nova Scotia at the NSCC’S Truro campus. Across all NSCC campuses, 400 students took part and the winning team will receive a $2,000 prize.
The annual competition is based on the 2013 Ivany Report, which outlines what Nova Scotia must do to combat both population and economic declines. One recommendation is to increase government support for new business start-ups.
Other goals include boosting immigration, which Bates said would provide more employees for new and fast-growing companies.
For student Thianes Costa Carvalho and his team, the focus is cutting red tape for new start-ups. This includes letting new business owners access all the information they need from one single point.
“There’s a lot of bureaucracy and a lot of agencies that don’t talk with each other, so our approach is to ease that process,” said Carvalho.
While Nova Scotia is lagging compared to other provinces in creating new start-ups, there are still some local success stories.
Bates said the Coldstream Clear Distillery, near his hometown of Middle Stewiacke, has products such as vodka soda on store shelves across Colchester County.
However, students said the government must lend more support to those businesses not involved with “hot industries” like agriculture or fisheries.
“These are real Nova Scotia issues,” said Challenge coordinator Matthew Doucette. “This is a way for the province to listen to what the students have to say. It’s a communications tool in a sense – their ideas go right to the top.”