While most young people ponder what they want to do in the years ahead, six have put themselves on a firm course for entrepreneurial success.
That’s well worth celebrating and, on Wednesday (August 13) at Venture North in downtown Peterborough, Community Futures Peterborough (CFP) did just that by heralding the graduates of its Summer Company program.
Providing the opportunity for students aged 15 to 29 to give their business idea legs, the program sees participants, guided by mentors, gain skills in a variety of disciplines such as problem solving, financial management, customer service and resilience.
From a pool of 19 applicants, Spencer Toth, Neha Mervin, Haydon Meade, Bisma Razaque, Lauren Connelly, and Teaghan Harnett were accepted for the program, which also provided them with up to $3,000 in grant money to help launch their respective businesses.
“It was really helpful to get advice from people who have been through starting a business and made their business successful,” assessed Connelly, 18, who owns and operates Connelly Swim Academy.
“I’ve been lifeguarding and instructing for a few years now. I thought it was a great opportunity to be able to work for myself. I can make my own hours, and I can customize lessons so that kids are getting the most out of it as possible.”
“I’ve been running it all summer. I’ve got lots of clients and we’re building a good network.”
Toth, 16, says his business, Farm Hands, provides area farmers with assistance in the form of helping hands “stacking hay bales, cleaning gutters, taking care of animals, moving tractor equipment … anything a farmer needs help with, we’ll go help them. There are a lot of farmers that need help but can’t find it.”
“I’ve got a couple of buddies working for me. I hope this gets big and more people work for me. Then I can get more clients.”
The Summer Company program, adds Toth, “was awesome. It taught me how to do marketing and about cash flow, stuff like that. Very helpful.”
Mervin, meanwhile, is the owner of Sparks of Bollywood, a beginner-friendly Bollywood dance instruction provider. Meade’s business is Scrub Window Cleaning, Razaque owns and operate Shirt Spark, and Hartnett oversees West End Property Care.
As noted by CFP executive director Devon Girard, each program graduate has learned how to manage budgets, attract customers, deliver a high-quality product or service, and adapt to the unexpected challenges that the self-employed often have to face.
In her remarks prior to the graduates receiving their program completion certificates from Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, who was represented by constituency office assistant Joel Porter, Girard expressed hope that each is “feeling encouraged and feeling excited” as they embark on their respective entrepreneurial journeys.
Girard later expressed her admiration of each of the young graduates.
“They’re way braver than I am — I don’t think I would have had the courage to do what they’ve done,” she told kawarthaNOW, adding “They took to absorbing every facet of the advice that was given.”
While the Summer Company program is not new — it was offered previously by the now defunct Peterborough and Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) — this cohort represents the first offered through CFP’s Business Advisory Centre (BAC), another service formerly provided by PKED that’s funded by the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, and also receives operational funding from the city and county of Peterborough.
“There’s a record level of interest coming through our advisory centre, not only for programs like this but also for advisory consultations,” notes Girard.
“Our goal, on a fiscal year basis from April 1st to March 31st, was 180 consultations. That was based on historical data. Already, as of July 31st, we had conducted 216 in-depth, one-on-one business consultations.”
“We know our economy — regionally, provincially and nationally — is made on small businesses. That’s a fact. It’s over 90 per cent nationally. It’s important for all of us to recognize the importance of introducing the idea of entrepreneurship through programs like this and investment from the province.”
Taking in Wednesday’s gathering was a “very proud” Allison Adam, entrepreneurship officer with the BAC. She was tasked with administering the program on just her second day with CFP.
“They were quite shy at the start,” she notes of the participants.
“I’ve seen them grow their confidence. Starting a brand-new business, they had to go out door-to-door sometimes and do sales, and pick up customers and things like that. That was just a huge growth opportunity for them. It forced them to come out of their shell and gain a lot of confidence doing something new, and doing something on their own.”
The number of applications received for the program, says Adam, is telling.
“A lot of people are realizing that it’s possible to have entrepreneurship as a career option,” she said, noting this group’s success will serve spur on even more interest.
Asked if there’s a common denominator that links each graduate, Adam says each possessed “a spark. They each had an idea, which is really the first step of entrepreneurship, and the motivation to pursue that idea.”
“It’s a great opportunity to be able to help these students do something that I would have loved to do when I was that age. It’s very fulfilling to help them in the way that I wish I could have had help with when I was that age.”
Also providing remarks at the event were BAC manager Rose Terry, City of Peterborough economic development director Darryl Julott, Peterborough County economic development manager Rhonda Keenan, Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce vice-president Joel Wiebe, and Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area executive director Nour Mazloum.
Based on the continued interest in the Summer Company program, the plan now is to offer it again in 2026. Visit communityfuturespeterborough.ca for application details as they’re made available.
A not-for-profit organization funded by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) as part of the Community Futures Program,
Community Futures Peterborough has a mission to support small businesses in the city and county of Peterborough with flexible financing. It has invested more than $42 million in 1,300-plus small businesses since 1985, creating or maintaining more than 4,300 jobs in Peterborough.
