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Surrey Youth Entrepreneur Team

Our Action Plan:

What it’s about:

The Surrey Youth Entrepreneur Team, comprised of business leaders and youth, will tie services, programming, and events into the SBOT’s Business Centre as a hub for young entrepreneurs.

Team Orientation and Volunteer Package

The Youth Entrepreneur Team will engage in:

  • Grades 4 to 8 Students: Surrey Board of Trade PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs ®
  • Project Enterprise sponsored by Coast Capital Savings – About 450 secondary students in Surrey have participated with the support of a Community Grant from Coast Capital Savings. Taking business ideas from concept to completion, helped participants develop an entrepreneurial mindset and a sense of civic engagement.
  • Post-Secondary-University & College Programming which includes marketing services in collaboration with Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) and University and College Business Plan Competitions (including ongoing participation in the SFU Venture Connection Program)
  • Career Mentorship
  • Work Experience Program
  • Youth Business Events which include the SBOT’s Top 25 under 25 Awards
  • Youth Entrepreneur Business Centre Services

More details
YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP POLICY
What we believe in:

  1. It is an economic and social imperative duty to address youth unemployment challenges.
  2. Boosting youth enterprises deliver substantial benefits both for the entrepreneur and for the economy.
  3. Entrepreneurship is not for everybody, but for many, it can provide a long-term route out of poverty.
  4. Making entrepreneurship work is not the responsibility of one sector alone, it requires dedicated actions from all sectors of the community.
  5. Young people need to be encouraged and supported to take advantage of the opportunities for entrepreneurship.

While some programming and collaborative activity has existed, the Youth Action Plan creates structure in the overall Surrey Board of Trade objective on the Workplace Development, Entrepreneurship, and Community Strategy for Youth.


Meetings


YOUTH EVENTS

Stay Tuned for more youth events in 2024

Surrey Youth Networking Night Extravaganza

Join Surrey’s Youth Networking Night Extravaganza, hosted at the Surrey Board of Trade on November 30 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Network with youth professionals and diverse industry connections in a fun atmosphere.


VIEW OUR RECENT WORK


RESOURCES AND PRESENTATIONS


OUR PROGRAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS

Surrey Board of Trade is an Official PowerPlay Ambassador

Surrey Board of Trade Becomes an Official PowerPlay Ambassador

PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs unveiled the PowerPlay Ambassador Program at a Surrey Board of Trade Business Pitch evening featuring Grade 5-7 students.PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs is a Canadian charity that has the mandate to help young Canadians prepare for the future of work. They often collaborate with entrepreneurs, business professionals, and other community leaders that share their passion for supporting education and empowering youth. This year they have officially developed the PowerPlay Ambassador Program to foster this community connection at the grassroots level, by having business volunteers directly interact with students that participate in their elementary school program and at subsequent extracurricular events. This feature adds educational value and excitement to the program as students can further connect their learning to the real world.

“The Surrey Board of Trade itself creates entrepreneurship pathways and believes in the importance of connecting students with employers and business representatives in their community,” said Anita Huberman, CEO, of the Surrey Board of Trade. “It isn’t only about building a career, it is about creating innovative skill sets and building the jobs of tomorrow. The Surrey Board of Trade believes that empowering young people with an entrepreneurial mindset is the key to developing more entrepreneurial behavior and preparing youth to flourish in our emerging economy.”

Given persistently high rates of youth unemployment in British Columbia—at 13.6% more than double the national average—preparing youth to follow an entrepreneurial path is not only an acceptable choice but a strategic decision. The Surrey Board of Trade Youth Entrepreneurship Program focuses on events, connections, and advocacy. It is enhancing the focus on youth entrepreneurship by supporting the current workforce as well as future business owners. Nurturing entrepreneurial skills in elementary students is a key part of the strategy.

PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs is a Canadian charity that accelerates positive social change by helping young people develop an entrepreneurial mindset. They provide turnkey solutions for the classroom including curriculum-based resources and teacher training. PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs also works with school districts and business leaders to create community partnerships that are scalable an­d impactful.

The Surrey Board of Trade is a not-for-profit city-building business organization that supports business and attracts business. The organization is comprised of 6,000 member contacts and over 3,000 member businesses, representing over 60,000 employees.

Grades 4 to 8 students – Surrey Board of Trade PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs®:

With PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs®, Grades 4 to 8 students have fun discovering their passions, talents, and interests as they explore the world of business. They gain hands-on experience and discover that entrepreneurship is a skill set that can add to their success in all areas of life. They build confidence in their abilities and develop practical skills such as critical thinking, communication, and creative thinking. Over a six-week period, young entrepreneurs develop business plans, complete market research, create products, and prepare marketing materials. The enterprising students then showcase their achievements and earn real money. By donating a portion of their profits to charity, they also learn about the importance of social responsibility. To learn more and get involved please email melissa@businessinsurrey.com.

Project Enterprise – High School program:
The SBOT continues our high school youth entrepreneurship program, this time with a new program facilitated by Powerplay Strategies called Project Enterprise. Project Enterprise helps Grades 9-12 students discover their ability to be change makers. Students are challenged to create business ventures with social responsibility as a cornerstone. The students create their own business plans, market test, design, and sell their products. The program debuted at three secondary schools: Frank Hurt, Princess Margaret, and Sullivan Heights Secondary. The program concluded with a “Dragon’s Den” style pitch and judging event.

Youth Reboot Plus Program

Reboot Plus Program – Helping Youth Explore Career Paths

The Surrey Board of Trade is pleased to be a part of the REBOOT PLUS PROGRAM. Our goal is to help young people explore and develop career paths.  The Reboot Plus Program is looking for professionals willing to give 30 – 60 minutes of their time to provide career insights and ideas to young people so that they can explore and develop their career plans.

This innovative program is designed for youth 17 to 24 who have not finished or are not on track to graduate high school. This first-of-its-kind program in Canada will help these youth re-engage in both education and career development.

How You Can Participate. We need business professionals to volunteer for informational interviews

Among other things, the program looks to connect student participants with business professionals to have an informational interview where they can ask questions and explore what different businesses and careers are really like.

The meetings will last for 30 to 60 minutes, and the student will help guide the discussion to help them learn about different career paths they may wish to pursue.  Following the interview, the Program Team will follow up with the professional to obtain any feedback you may have on the youth participant and on the process.

Where possible, the Program hopes that professionals will encourage other contacts in your network to participate in the project, or potentially refer the student directly to others who can provide further informational interviews. Ideally, each interview will lead to at least two further contacts per participant.

Want to Help Out? Want More Information?

Contact:
Anita Huberman
Email: anita@businessinsurrey.com
Phone: 604-634-0341

Learn More about Reboot Plus

SFU Rocketry

A student-run organization striving to develop and build space-ready rocketry technology. The club was founded in 2018. Since then the club members have been working on finding innovative ways to build rocket engines and the required infrastructure. This is made possible by bringing together individuals with new ideas and the right skills.

Read Our Memorandum of Understanding