Search on for top young entrepreneur
Joel Pinel knows the impact winning a national award can have on a young entrepreneur’s business.
Pinel, owner of WOW Factor Media in Moose Jaw, Sask., captured the Business Development Bank of Canada’s Young Entrepreneur Award in 2013 and said it had a big effect on the marketing company.
Pinel took home the $100,000 grand prize offered to Canadian business owners aged 18 to 35.
“It was huge on a lot of different levels,” he said this week as BDC announced it was accepting applications for the 2014 edition of the competition.
“Obviously the cash to put toward new equipment was phenomenal. It’s pretty nice to have zero debt on it. We feel very fortunate for that. And then the exposure we received from it was huge. It’s nice to be nationally recognized like that. Through the competition, it got our company very well known across Canada.
The company, which started in 2009, has offices in Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg with 21 employees.
Second prize for the competition, with a deadline of April 3 for applications, is $25,000 in consulting services from BDC. Applications can be made online at bdc.ca/yea.
BDC said it is looking for young entrepreneurs who face a turning point: continue at their current pace or seize the opportunity to grow their business and achieve the momentum that will lead to long-term success. Applicants must submit a short video describing their business’s turning point and the solution that will help them achieve future growth. All entries must describe a project that has yet to be implemented.
“Our past finalists view the BDC Young Entrepreneur Award contest as the catalyst to a better understanding of what it takes to grow a business from a small venture to a powerhouse and as a source of unparalleled visibility opportunities,” said Michel Bergeron, senior vicepresident of marketing and public affairs at BDC, in a statement.
“The contest aims to showcase the vibrancy of Canada’s young entrepreneur community and its importance to the prosperity of our economy.”