LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
It takes a village to grow an entrepreneur.
Carielyn Jumbo shows her three-year-old daughter Nah'ehlee Rocque-Jumbo some of the material that was handed out during the regional business workshops held at the Rec Centre in Fort Simpson last month. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
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That was the message of a three-day workshop held by the territorial department of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) from May 19 to 21 in Fort Simpson, encouraging Deh Cho residents to explore the world of business.
Individual sessions included workshops targeting current business owners, prospective entrepreneurs and youth with an interest in the field.
Trout Lake resident Carielyn Jumbo spent May 20 at the workshop and said she came away feeling better about the prospect of starting her own business with the Samba K'e band.
"We were thinking of getting into produce - to sustain the community on vegetables and fruits - and of getting eggs and doing mass production of chickens," Jumbo said, noting the business sector is visibly lacking in her community.
"In Trout Lake, there's currently not very much income and job security," she added.
Michael Mageean, the regional superintendent for ITI, said the region offers a wealth of opportunity for people interested in starting up their own company - or getting involved with an existing one.
"In the Deh Cho region, the biggest sector is tourism, service and hospitality. We also have other sectors that are developing, such as mining," he said.
"We have potential for base metals and diamonds throughout the region and a number of junior companies are (already) out exploring volume for those types of products."
Mageean sat in on some of the workshops, including Unlocking the Power of Youth, a session held by Futurpreneur Canada speaker Elaine Palson.
That session aimed to define the typical millennial - a term for the generation born between 1980 and 2000 - and the opportunities that generation can access in today's changing business landscape.
Palson said many millennials are disenchanted with the current workforce and are striving to create jobs they enjoy, instead of conforming to traditional business models.
According to Palson, it truly does take a village to raise an engaged, forward-thinking generation with an interest in starting companies or taking over for older entrepreneurs who are looking to retire.
Speaking in broad terms, Palson said the average millennial is twice as likely to start a business as their preceding generation and described them as "serial entrepreneurs" who start and grow businesses and then move on to something new.
"Young people change the world," she said. "They are job-creating machines ... (who are) also the largest influence on future consumer trends."
Aside from hosting business workshops, ITI also offers programs to help start-ups and economic development.
