Paper Plant Project wins Cubs Lair competition
The Paper Plant Project started by an Enactus Fleming team of Fleming College students won the Cubs Lair Entrepreneurship Competition held Thursday night at the Gordon Best Theatre.
The team of Vanessa Mathieu, Joao Borges, Alesha Colaco and Jo Ho took home the grand prize of more than $7,000 for their startup business, which involves the production of paper planters from recycled paper waste as educative kits for schools to promote biodegradable practices.
Six finalists made their pitches to judges Thursday night in the annual contest sponsored by the Innovation Cluster and Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development.
The grand prize will be valuable in making the project a success, Borges says.
“With that package we are definitely going to be investing into some marketing research with teachers as well as other marketing niches,” Borges stated.
“We will also be updating our website of course with Shopify as well as investing a lot into the manufacturing process to make sure we are being as efficient and consistent as possible. We also are going to take advantage of being connected with the community and get into the minds of the people around us because by the end of the day, we want to help Fleming College as a whole but also ultimately help our community.”
Runners up included Shane Willis and Tanner Morrow with their business idea Eco Care, a property maintenance company focused on electric powered landscaping equipment, as well as Telsi Szanyi of Flow Codes, a subscription service for wellness resources, with a focus on promoting well-being for employees in the workplace.
Braden Clark, innovation specialist at the Innovation Cluster, and Madeleine Hurrell, entrepreneurship officer at Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development hosted the event.
“This is a great stepping-stone for youth entrepreneurs to practice pitching their business ideas and receive feedback from professionals in the community,” Clark stated.
Judges included Michael Konopaski, managing director of Inclusive Advisory; Nicole Stephenson, Founder of Stephenson Law Group and Dana Empey, vice-president of Carlson Wagonlit/G. Stewart Travel.