More than $35,000 was handed out to young entrepreneurs from throughout the region on Saturday night as BG Canada and Futurepreneur Canada hosted the ThriveNorth Business Challenge awards ceremony.
The competition, which invited entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 39 to submit applications for funding for their new or existing business, had more than 50 entries that were then filtered down to 12 finalists in three categories. The finalists had their business plans and ideas scrutinized by a panel of business experts to determine the $10,000 grand prize winner and the $2,500 runner-up.
Prince Rupert’s Amy Dopson was one of the big winners on the night, taking home $10,000 in the Business Growth Opportunity category, with the money to be used to further grow the award-winning PAC 10 Tutoring. Jeffery Minhinnick of Terrace was the runner-up with the idea of making Ye Olde Chop Bloc barber shop into a mobile operation.
The Best New Business winner was Ria Smith of Hazelton for her idea of launching a mobile food company, with Elanor Stewart of Smithers finishing second for her artisan-based business.
The New Social Enterprise category was won by Terrace’s Nathan Hoffart to launch a speech language pathology clinic, with Prince Rupert’s Harvey James Russel placing second for his plans for a marine-based research and consulting firm.