The 10th
Annual Québec Entrepreneurship Contest has closed.
Determining the Contest's provincial grand prize winners
involves a three-stage selection process. If your project passes
the first stage at the local level (April 2008), your
application package will be reassessed second stage or the
regional level (May 2008); then, fl applicable, il will qualify
for the third stage at the provincial level (May 2008). Prizes
wil be avarded at a gala ceremony to be held on June 19, 2008 at
the Centre des congrès de Québec.
What
is the
Québec Entrepreneurship Contest?
The Québec Entrepreneurship Contest is a unique event
in many ways. It targets a niche that has not been filled by other
entrepreneurship contests, focusing on young people in schools and
on new entrepreneurs who are often at the business planning stage.
In addition, it is the only Québec contest to offer such large
prizes, not to mention that it is open to anyone who resides in
Québec.
MISSION
Promote
the development of entrepreneurship in Québec by rewarding student
entrepreneurship as well as
business creation.
BACKGROUND
Between
1988 and 1997, three entrepreneurship contests vied for the
attention of students and new entrepreneurs in Québec: the
Concours
d'excellence Devenez entrepreneur-e,
organized for future entrepreneurs by the
Fédération des cégeps;
the Head for Business
contest, set up under the school boards' entrepreneurship training
program for secondary school students, and lastly, the
De l'Idée
au projet contest
for hypothetical business plans sponsored by
Université Laval.
In 1997, at the invitation of the Ministère de l'Éducation and a few partners,
the people in charge of these three contests set up a task force to
create a single contest, which was to become the Québec
Entrepreneurship Contest. The first permanent team was then set up
and the first annual Québec Entrepreneurship Contest was launched in
1998.
A Major Partnership
The
Contest relies on the expertise of a board of directors made up of
people belonging to the sponsoring partners of the Contest and the
education system. In addition, an operation of this size requires
the financial assistance of major partners. We note the unwavering
support of the Québec government and severals of its departments, as well
as of the Défi de l'entrepreneuriat jeunesse and the Fonds
Jeunesse Québec. Other important collaborators
have teamed up with these sponsors, including
Service Canada,
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton,
The Counselling
Foundation of Canada,
the Chambre
des notaires du Québec,
Desjardins Group,
as well as a number of public and private sector agencies that
provide support year after year.
A BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
President
Wojtek
Winnicki,
Directeur général adjoint, Centre, formation générale, formation
professionnelle, services aux entreprises
Commission
scolaire
Marguerite-Bourgeoys
Vice-president of
networking and development of alliances
Pierre Drapeau,
Président-directeur général
Journal Réseaux
Vice-president of
communications and public relations
Daniel Fortier, Conseiller
principal, communication et marketing
Fonds de solidarité
FTQ
Vice-president of financing
Vincent Lecorne, directeur général
adjoint
SAJE Montréal-Métro
Secretary-treasurer
André Caron, Président
Fédération des
commissions scolaires du Québec
Administrators
Éric Allard
, directeur adjoint
Réseau des carrefours jeunesse-emploi du Québec
Benjamin Bussière, directeur
général adjoint
Place aux jeunes du Québec
Martin Gilbert,
Grand lauréat du Concours en 2003-2004
Cofondateur
Les Bergeries du Fjord
Colette Martin, directrice adjointe
et responsable des communications - CLD de Québec, Association
des centres locaux de développement du Québec
Christiane Néron, analyste en
entrepreneuriat et responsable de Capitale entrepreneur
CS de la Capitale/Capitale Entrepreneur
Alfred Pilon,
Secrétaire général
Les Offices jeunesse internationaux du Québec
Nathaly Riverin, Directrice des
projets pédagogiques et du Centre de vigie et de recherche sur
la culture entrepreneuriale
Fondation de l'entrepreneurship
Member of the board of
directors
Natacha Jean,
Présidente-directrice
générale
Concours québécois en
entrepreneuriat
An Active Network
This
great event would not exist without the cooperation of local and
regional Contest representatives, who form an incredible network of skills and
knowledge. Year after year, the Contest actively seeks, mobilizes
and brings together nearly 400 local and regional representatives
from Centres locaux de développement, Carrefours Jeunesse
Emploi, Sociétés d'aide au développement de la collectivité, chambers of
commerce, school boards, private educational institutions, colleges
and universities. Their task is to contact the largest number of new
entrepreneurs who are ready to start up a business, and to encourage
them to enter the Contest. These same organizers also publicize the
contest in schools and raise the awareness of teachers, counsellors,
parents, principals and school board administrators concerning the
need to promote and develop entrepreneurship in their young people.
Honorary Presidents
Every year, the provincial
organization invites a well-known public figure to represent the
Contest. Over the years, the honorary presidents have always been
prominent personalities, such as :
Louis Garneau,
Louis Garneau Sports
Denise Verreault,
Groupe
maritime Verreault
Guy Laliberté,
Cirque du Soleil
Cora Tsouflidou, Chez
Cora déjeuners
Bernard Voyer,
the famous explorer
Monique F. Leroux,
Senior Executive Vice-President of Desjardins Group
Jean-Pierre Coallier
and Marc-André Coallier,
a father and son team of entrepreneurs
Isabelle
Courville, President of Bell Canada's Enterprise Group
Jean-Marc Léger, President, Léger Marketing
For 2007-2008,
Jean-Marc Léger, president of
Leger Marketing and Anne Marcotte, president of Vivemtia, are the
honorary co-president
s
of the 10th edition of the Québec Entrepreneurship
Contest.
Two divisions - two groups of
applicants
Student Entrepreneurship Division
The
Student
Entrepreneurship division is intended for students from elementary
school to university who have carried out projects that demonstrate
their entrepreneurial skills during the school year.
Business Creation Division
The Business Creation
division is aimed at Quebeckers of at least 18 years of age who are
planning to set up a business and are at the initial stages of their
project. In registering for the Contest, they ensure that they are
one step ahead by demonstrating their thoroughness and
discipline in developing and
drawing up their business plans. They build themselves a reputation
that does not go unnoticed by financial institutions because they
stand out from the crowd.
BEYOND OUR
BORDERS
From the start, the
Québec Entrepreneurship Contest has crossed borders. In addition to
the many local, regional and provincial prizes awarded each year,
prizes are awarded for projects offering the most interesting
prospects for international development. These awards take the form
of business trips to establish contacts in France, Belgium or the
Americas. The Contest is also associated with the
Réseau des Boutiques de
Gestion in France, which
provides guidance and follow-up to new entrepreneurs across the
country and which initiated the Concours
Talents, which is organized in all regions of France.
A REGIONAL ECONOMIC DRIVER
The Contest is organized
throughout Québec's 17 administrative regions. It is our finding,
over the years, that many of the winners start their businesses in
their own region. Statistics show that entrepreneurs who are rooted
in their own community will also establish their business there.
Entrepreneurs contribute to the economic vitality of their community
and region. As a result of their activities, the economic landscape
of their community starts to change in order to meet their needs,
with positive spinoffs
for everyone.
After nine years, many of our
former winners are on the highway to success. Examples of innovative
projects abound, fields of operation have been broadened and the
number of environmentally friendly projects has soared. In every
region of Québec, the Contest has brought together communities that
were not accustomed to working together, but now realize that they
can achieve great things through synergy.
