Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Aug 27/01) - Forget about lemonade stands, cutting grass or washing cars; Brendan Whelly has made his summer cash by selling coveted Northwest Territories three-legged polar bear licence plates.

Brendan, who at 11 may well be the Deh Cho's youngest international entrepreneur, has customers from the United States, Germany and Australia via the Internet. His dad, Sean, a business development officer, has offered some support.

"He needed some money to buy the (model) plane so we came up with this idea," Sean said.

They started out with three licence plates that had been packed away in their basement. They purchased dozens more from mechanics who removed them from out-of-commission vehicles.

Brendan banged out the dents with a rubber mallet and polished them off. Then he took digital photos and, with Dad's help, posted the pictures and descriptions on the Internet, on auction sites like E-Bay. The plates have fetched from US$5 to $40, primarily from members of the American Licence Plate Collectors Association, which has more than 10,000 members, according to Sean.

The business has also proven to be educational from a historical perspective. They have learned that the polar bear design was introduced by the territorial government in 1970 and remains the only non-rectangular licence plate in North America -- shared since April 1999 with Nunavut, which uses the designator "N" following the licence numbers. As well, they learned, the plates used to be made of aluminum, but now steel is used. There have also been special editions of the plates, such as an RCMP centennial issued in 1973 and a rare Expo edition, also released in the 1970s.

While they're excited about their success, they're naturally a little protective of their venture too. Brendan suggested that other young entrepreneurs target another market on the Internet. Sean said practically any collectible item will attract interest.

"Just look in your basement, there'll be stuff there that people want," he said, adding that he and Brendan would be glad to buy any licence plates people might find.

About to begin Grade 6, Brendan said he's not eyeing a career in sales -- he'd rather be a pilot instead. But he's not about to relinquish his capitalist spirit yet, as he's planning to continue selling the plates throughout the fall.

"I'm going to make a lot more money, right dad?" he asks.