Young entrepreneurs cash in

"Canada's prosperity depends not just on meeting the challenges of today," said Ottawa-Orléans MP Royal Galipeau at a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 17, stressing the importance of preparing for the future. "Today, more than ever, it's important young people develop those skills."

The money is being funnelled through Orléans' Bermo Management Services Inc. via Service Canada's Skills Link program, which focuses on youth dealing with employment barriers including recent immigration, disabilities, rural locations and incomplete high school educations. Through the Jeunes Entrepreneurs Bermo project, 10 Francophone participants from across the city have been chosen for this year's program and to receive the federal funding, a leg-up on their way to becoming entrepreneurs.

The initiative will offer unique opportunities for young entrepreneurs to delve into the work world, continued Galipeau – who also represented Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley at the announcement – and help stimulate the Canadian economy.

The aim of the Skills Link program is to help young people "develop a broad range of skills and knowledge," he added, pointing to the federal government's economic action plan as another measure for supporting employment growth. "Every region and every sector has different needs."

During a 44-week period between this past January and December, program participants – who are required to be between the ages of 16 and 30, currently unemployed and not receiving employment insurance benefits – will be awarded funding comparable to a minimum salary, as well as access to resources and training, explained Bermo president Albert Alary. Support will include help completing a business plan, instruction in taxes and bookkeeping and seminars and presentations from outside business leaders, he said. "It's everything a businessperson needs to know," Alary continued, adding that the YMCA locally runs the program for Anglophone applicants.

Creating "micro-businesses" instead of large start-ups requiring huge investments – and with government funding to back them up – program members "can create demand for their services," he suggested, especially important in an uncertain economy.

Having participated in Skills Link for five years, not every group member winds up a full-time businessperson, but all leave after achieving a measure of success, Alary added. "I maybe don't have 50 new entrepreneurs as of today, but I know what they learned gave them a better chance at getting a better job," he explained, pointing to some who have gone back to school or have furthered themselves in other careers.

Rockland resident Jocelyn Robitaille is one such participant, having joined the Skills Link program several years ago. After receiving support from the initiative – specifically financial guidance on a business plan and motivation – Robitaille is now a published author/illustrator, with his first book of Far Side-type comics, Think Things, coming out online last month.

The project originated years before his entrance into the Skills Link program, Robitaille recounted, while he was working in telecommunications. "To keep my morale high, I started to draw comics," he explained, adding to his collection over time.

After initially publishing a smaller version of the book thanks to Skills Link funding, it eventually gained attention from American publishers and will soon hit shelves in local bookstores, he continued. "I got the motivation I needed (to take it further) from the program," Robitaille said. "It would have been extremely difficult without it. I'm happy I did."