December 22, 2014 – A full-time Entrepreneurship Coordinator hired at Laurentian University will work to develop a strong and vibrant entrepreneurial culture for post-secondary students and recent graduates in the Greater Sudbury region.
The position has been created through an On Campus Entrepreneurship Activities grant awarded to Laurentian University in collaboration with Cambrian College and Collège Boréal, and in partnership with NORCAT. The new Entrepreneurship Coordinator, Matthieu Dasys, will build and implement a program to foster a strong entrepreneurial culture across all four institutions, creating experiential learning opportunities for students and recent grads, and helping them to start new businesses.
“There are so many smart and enthusiastic young entrepreneurs in our midst, with terrific ideas,” said Dasys, who graduated in 2014 with an Honours B. Comm from Laurentian University. “We can help them to refine their ideas, test their models and launch viable enterprises, with the support of this program.”
Funded through Ontario’s Youth Job Strategy and managed by the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), the OCEA program is designed to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit and cultivate opportunities for innovation in Ontario’s young people.
“Fostering the entrepreneurial spirit among students is a key component of Ontario’s Youth Jobs Strategy, through programs that help transfer their ideas and skills to the marketplace while creating rewarding careers,” said Reza Moridi, Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. “By partnering with colleges and universities to support entrepreneurship, we are ensuring our province’s business leaders of tomorrow are getting the support they need to succeed today.”
Among the initiatives and learning opportunities to be led by the On Campus Entrepreneurship Activities office are boot camps and seminars in business development and funding; guest speakers; internship and mentoring possibilities, and a repository of best practice models. The OCEA grant will fund the position from December, 2014 to November, 2016.
“This program was created to support students who are seeking to grow and expand new businesses. The promotion of entrepreneurship endeavors has been recognized as a shared interest among all three post-secondary institutions. Collège Boréal proudly supports all exercises facilitating the partnership and collaboration of educational institutions,” said Pierre Riopel, Collège Boréal President.”
“This much-welcomed government funding paves the way for Sudbury’s three postsecondary institutions to work together to support the entrepreneurs in our community,” said Cambrian College President Bill Best. “Small businesses create building blocks for economic growth in our communities, so by providing support for our students and grads through this new OCEA grant, we are taking an important step in ensuring their success.”
“The NORCAT Innovation Mill is excited to be a part of the On Campus Entrepreneurship Activities initiative here in Sudbury. We look forward to working with and supporting Laurentian, Cambrian and Boreal to foster entrepreneurism across their campuses,” said Kyle McCall, Coordinator, NORCAT Innovation Mill.
“Ontario Centres of Excellence is pleased to be able to deliver this project as a trusted partner of the Government of Ontario,” added Tom Corr, DBA, President and CEO of Ontario Centres of Excellence. “I look forward to putting our years of experience in connecting academia and industry, and our on-going support of young entrepreneurs to good use in making this initiative a tremendous success.”