JA Company Program 2015-2016

We’re on a mission to inspire and prepare youth to succeed in a global economy.

Dear JA Company Program Donors and Partners: This was another successful, busy and exciting year for the JA Company Program. The

flagship of all JA programming, the Company Program is an intensive, hands-on entrepreneurial

boot camp for high achieving teens. This curriculum based program can be run in school

(teacher led), or alternatively it is also offered as an afterschool (volunteer business mentor led)

extracurricular program.

Students who enroll in the afterschool program are placed into teams with the teams quickly

becoming companies. Once teams have agreed on a business idea, executives are elected,

business plans are formulated, websites are designed and then production lines produce! The

anticipated result for all the student companies is real sales and real profits being attained

during this six-month afterschool program.

This year ninety-seven Winnipeg students formed into nine afterschool teams; all creating

unique product lines, all mentored by dedicated JA volunteers from the Winnipeg business

community. During the 2015-16 year, the afterschool Company Program enlisted 29 volunteer

mentors. Each mentor dedicated approximately 75 hours of advising time to their student

company team over this six month period (program runs from November to late April)

While enrollment in the teacher led in-school Company Program has remained steady,

enrollment for the afterschool program grew 18% from last year. A lot of the success in this

entrepreneurship program can be attributed to the strength of our partners. The Company

Program saw an increase in funding due to new organizations such as CPA Manitoba coming

on board as the Official Company Program Sponsor. Strong grassroots networking with

organizations such as Ramp Up, CEO Manitoba, JCI Winnipeg, Shaw TV, Safe Work Manitoba,

the World Trade Centre Winnipeg and Stu Clarke Centre for Entrepreneurship has made this

program highly relevant to our student base. However equally as important, we are also seeing

an increasingly strong and dedicated volunteer pool from the Winnipeg business community.

This ultimately has made this program of more value – thus attracting a higher caliber of

students.

It never ceases to amaze how these bright engaged high school students can add this

demanding extra-curricular program to their already busy school and work schedules. Please

take a moment to see what these JA Achievers, our future leaders, have accomplished over the

past year and notice how your contributions have made a difference!

CPA Manitoba Official Sponsor Of the 2015-16 JA Company Program

JA Manitoba was thrilled to have CPA

Manitoba on board as the official sponsor

of the 2015-16 afterschool Company

Program. This partnership has proven to

be a great fit, as both organizations

recognize the importance of developing

the next generation of business leaders

and encourage students to pursue post-

secondary studies.

All teams that participate in the JA

program are required to develop business

plans. These plans include everything

from marketing and product development

to full financials. Students have an

opportunity to learn how to complete

income statements, a break-even analysis

and even create their own balance sheets

to efficiently run their businesses. The

program offers students a unique hands-

on glimpse into the business strategy work that is often performed by professional

accountants.

The CPA designation is Canada`s premier credential for professional careers in

business and accounting. A university degree in any discipline is all it takes to be

eligible to enroll in the CPA program. Those who successfully earn their CPA

designation are equipped with an education and background that enables them to go on

and take leadership roles in the business community. You can find CPAs in all

industries and across all business sectors. Many CPAs hold roles in upper levels of

management, in CEO or CFO positions, or even as entrepreneurs running their own

businesses. To learn more about becoming a CPA visit www.go.cpamb.ca

Scotiabank Manages student Teams’ banking needs! Thank-you to Scotiabank for handling all the afterschool Company Program’s student

team banking needs for the 2015-2016 program year. Soon after each team decides on

their product or service, they begin the task of selling $10 shares to gain their initial

start-up equity. Once shares are sold, bank accounts need to be set up and money

deposited.

Scotiabank signed on this year as the official banking institution for all afterschool

Company Program teams. Presidents and VP’s of Finance from each student company

(along with one advisor) set up appointments with Scotiabank and learned the following:

-how to open a small-business bank account

-the responsibilities of being a signing authority,

-the importance of online account viewing

-how to deposit money

-the basics of writing a cheque

In addition to handling all the

teams’ banking needs,

Scotiabank also facilitated a lunch

hour trade fair in the Shops of

Winnipeg Square. This was a

great opportunity for students to

see and feel the busy vibe of the

downtown lunch-hour business

crowd.

Thank-you Scotiabank!

SPECIAL EVENTS Afterschool Company Program

In addition to the weekly team meetings that span over 20 weeks, many of the teams

and students partake in the various special events and competitions that JA Manitoba

organizes. Thank you to all the participants, volunteers and sponsors of various

special events throughout the year. It is with your continued support and participation

that JA can continue to inspire and educate our Manitoba youth!

MEETING OF THE MINDS

Company Program Launch - November 2015

(ABOVE) Achievers and Advisors participating in a fun business challenge (RIGHT) Guest Speaker from Portray Advertising and Former JA Achiever: Greg Lipschitz

JA MANITOBA held the annual kick-off event, “Meeting of the Minds” for the Company

Program – A Student Venture, at CanadInns Polo Park. 120 parents, volunteers

(Advisors), students (Achievers) and JA Corporate partners attended. Advisors and

Achievers were placed in their companies where they met and got started with

icebreaker activities. Greg Lipschitz (former JA Company Program Achiever, local

entrepreneur and co-founder of Portray Advertising) was the guest speaker for the

evening.

EXECUTIVE TRAINING

Company Program - December 2015

Elected executives from each of the Company Program teams’ are invited to attend our

annual “Executive Training” sessions. Due to the great training space at Manitoba

Hydro, we were able to deliver all seven training sessions simultaneously.

Training sessions were conducted by

volunteer professionals in areas such as

leadership, finance, marketing, production,

health & safety, human resources and social

media. A special thank-you goes out to Dash

Agency, the World Trade Centre Winnipeg

(BIC), JCI Winnipeg, Safe Work Manitoba,

CEO Group (Asper School of Business) and

Warehouse One for delivering the Vice-

President and Presidential training sessions.

Students in executive positions were given

guidelines and pointers from our volunteer

business trainers on how to effectively run

their departments for the duration of the

program.

(ABOVE) Riley Bell from CEO Group (Asper School of Business) delivers the Financing training session

to students in the Company Program)

(ABOVE) Students from Company Program attending Executive Training at the beautiful downtown

Manitoba Hydro building

ELEVATOR PITCH CHALLENGE:

Company Program – February 2016

This competition brought to us by the Investors Group is designed to push students out

of their comfort zone and into the world of selling their idea – the Elevator Pitch! In

Round I Students have 2 minutes to

sell their product idea to a panel of

judges. Vying for cash prizes in this

nerve wracking contest, this

competition tests the students on their

product knowledge and their ability to

make a persuasive pitch.

In Round II the top six pitches are

brought back for a second round.

Building on the feedback the students

have gained from Round I, they

compete for cash prizes of $300,

$200 and $100 (compliments of

Investors Group)

JA Manitoba would like to thank

Elaine Ross, Senior Corporate

Communications Consultant from

Investors Group for organizing and

hosting this annual competition.

(ABOVE) Investors Group – Judging panels

Winners Andres Bazin and Bilal

Ayyache from team myTag (Nelson

McIntyre High School) took first place

and $300 in cash prizes.

Congratulations to all the students that

participated!

(RIGHT) First place winners from team MyTag

Andres and Bilal with award presenter Glen

Melnyk from Investors Group

THE “PERFECT PITCH”

Company Program - April 2016

JA Manitoba in conjunction with

the Shaw Studios brought back

for the 4th year “THE PERFECT

PITCH” - JA Manitoba’s version

of Dragons Den. Student teams

vie for cash prizes in front of a

studio audience at the Shaw

Studios.

(LEFT): Team “Maple Card Company”

preparing to deliver their pitch.

Our judges Chris Westdal (Pool

Pros), Diane Bilodeau (Caisse

Financial Group) and Luc

Bohunicky (Consultica Software

Services) were our Dragons. The

taping was packaged into 4

episodes, aired on Shaw TV

channel 9 and is available for

viewing on Shaw’s YouTube

Channel. (ABOVE): Judging Panel: Chris Westdal, Diane Bilodeau, Luc Bohunicky

(ABOVE): Perfect Pitch, Shaw Studios

TRADE FAIRS Company Program – March & April 2016

During the Trade Fairs, students were

not only marketing their products to the

public, but they were also competing

with each other to win a number of

trade fair specific awards. JA enlisted

the marketing expertise of Cynthia

Dowse (Dowse Media and

Communications) to not only critique

each trade fair booth, but provide

constructive feedback.

(ABOVE) – Team “myTag at the St. Vital Trade Fair

(Above) –Team C-Spray at Kildonan Place Trade Fair (Above) Team C-Spray product line

Trade fairs were held during the entire mall hours on the following Saturdays:

March 12th: Kildonan Shopping Centre (full day trade fair) March 18th: Hydro Gallery downtown &

Scotia Bank(lunch hour trade fair) April 9th: St. Vital Shopping Centre (full day trade fair)

JA Winnipeg teams sold collectively $12,000 worth of product to the public!

CELEBRATION OF ACHIEVEMENT

Company Program awards night – May 2016

Essence Event Center at

CanadInns Garden City hosted

115 students, parents, volunteers

and sponsors who attended the

Awards Ceremony a "Celebration

of Achievement" for all afterschool

Company Program participants.

This year, nine new companies

from Winnipeg schools were

honored for their achievements;

showcasing the brightest and the

best - youth making a difference. Awards, scholarships and numerous prizes were

handed out at this evening.

(ABOVE) – Future Leader of Manitoba (ABOVE) – Company of the Year winners, team C-Spray

Scholarship winner Andres Bazin

“Next Generation of Leaders” Scholarship York University – August 8th-12

th, 2016

JA Manitoba along with sponsor Pool

Pros will be sending one Company

Program Achiever, Priel Lisak, to the

Next Generation Leaders Forum

(NextGen). NextGen is a JA Canada

global forum that provides business skills

to youth so they can lead organizations

of the future. Youth from all over the

world attend this intense five-day forum,

where participants face real business

challenges and develop strategies in

collaboration with their global peers.

This year’s forum will take place at York

University. The JA youth who attend the

Next Generation Leaders Forum are

many of the highest potential young people in the world, and the next leaders of industry

and society.

(ABOVE) Next Gen Scholarship winner Priel Lisak

Company Program Sponsors

CPA Manitoba (Official Sponsor)

Manitoba Hydro

Manitoba Government

Shaw

Caisse Financial Group

Investors Group

Workers Compensation Board

Safe Work Manitoba

Papa John’s Pizza

Pal Group (scholarships)

Pool Pros Ltd. (scholarship)

EO Winnipeg (scholarship)

Waterford Global Inc. (scholarship)

Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship High School New Venture Championships

Students from the afterschool Company Program were invited to compete in the

province wide “High School New Venture Championships” hosted by the U of M’s Stu

Clarke Centre for Entrepreneurship. Categories for competition include Idea Pitch,

Logo Competition, Business Plan and Trade Fair Booth. We were pleased to announce

that JA teams placed in three of the competitions. C-Spray took first place in the Idea

Pitch Competition with MyTag placing 2nd in the Trade Show Competition. Rural JA

team Dangles (based out of Birtle MB) placed 2nd overall in the business plan

competition. Many thanks to the Stu Clarke Centre for putting on this high-caliber

province wide competition!

C-Spray takes 1st in Idea Pitch $500 MyTag takes 2

nd in Trade Show $100 Gift Card

Rural JA team based out of Birtle Manitoba takes 2

nd place Business Plan Competition

$1000 post-secondary per student

COMPANY PROGRAM AWARDS

Award Winner School

Best Business Plan Sense SJR

Best Shareholders Report myTag Nelson McIntyre

Best Website of the Year myTag Nelson McIntyre

Innovative Product of the Year C-Spray Kelvin

Best Trade Fair Booth C-Spray Kelvin

Highest Unit Sales Maple Card Company SJR

Highest Dollar Sales C-Spray Kelvin

VP of Website/social media Bilal Ayyache Nelson McIntyre

VP of HR Jillian Ilao Kildonan East

VP of Marketing Alice Phung Grant Park HS

VP of Finance Kaela Kunst-Bentz Kelvin High School

VP of Production Walid Ayyache Nelson McIntyre

VP of Environment/Health/Safety Sarah Voullon Nelson McIntyre

President of the Year Award Elliot Kimelman Kelvin (Gray)

Next Gen Award Priel Lisak Grant Park HS

Company of the Year C-Spray Kelvin

1st Investors Group Challenge Andres & Bilal Nelson McIntyre

2nd

Investors Group Challenge Octavia & Jenna Kelvin

3rd

Investors Group Challenge Adrien Dinzey Grant Park team

Anthony McLaughlin Scholarship Shaun Ramos Grant Park

Pal Bursary for Growth Allan Eung Kelvin HS

1st Safety Plan Maple Card Co. SJR

1st Shaw Perfect Pitch C-Spray Kelvin

Entrepreneurial Excellence Scholarship Elliot Kimelman Kelvin (Gray)

Future Leader of Manitoba Award Andres Bizan Nelson McIntrye

For more information about the Company Program contact Marie Hacault 204-956-6087