New entrepreneurs in the region to discover following the OSEntreprendre Outaouais challenge, presented by the Carrefour jeunesse emploi de l'Outaouais
Sonia Roy
The 24th edition of the OSEntreprendre Outaouais challenge awards ceremony took place, for the second time virtually, on May 3rd. This gala of the Carrefour jeunesse emploi de l'Outaouais (CJEO), hosted by Geneviève Ouimet, host and director of Espace-O, happened live on Facebook and was attended by about a hundred spectators. The CJEO, a community organization and the first Carrefour jeunesse emploi established in Quebec, proceeded to award prizes to the winners of the five parts of the challenge. Several grants totalling more than $90,000 were distributed to the winners, students and entrepreneurs of all ages and backgrounds, in the form of category prizes and "coup de coeur" prizes. Sandee Mayner, a teacher at the Cité Étudiante de la Haute Gatineau and Mandy Forest, a Secondary 2 student at the same school and former winner, were invited as honorary presidents for the occasion.
The school component, which encompasses support for entrepreneurship and community spirit, was aimed at primary, secondary, college and university students. Bursaries of $500 were awarded to the following category winners for their projects:
Primary - Cycle One: "Les poumons verts et associés" by École de l'Odyssée
Primary - second cycle: "Sauvons notre planète: moins de poubelles" by École Providence J.-M.-Robert
Primary - third cycle: "Les ptit bricos des cépages" by École des Cépages
Secondary - first cycle: "1000 pensées, une voix" by École secondaire Louis-Joseph Papineau
Secondary - second cycle: "Styléco" by Mont-Bleu High School
Secondary - special education: "Nectar des colibris" by École Euclide-Lanthier
Vocational training and adult education: "Les clés du bonheur" by the Centre des services scolaires des Hauts-Bois-de-L'Outaouais
Individual college and small group: "Club boursier étudiant" by the Cégep de l'Outaouais (campus Gabrielle-Roy)
Collegial group: "Projet de fin d’étude en techniques de diététique" by the Cégep de l'Outaouais (Gabrielle-Roy campus)
The "Business Creation" component, which includes support to young businesses for market studies, project validation, obtaining grants and network diversification, offered grants of $1,500 to the following businesses:
Business category: Jadis Jadis, a company that gives a second life to pieces of retro clothing
Social category: Le deuxième chapitre, a thrift store, a boutique and a community eco-store in the municipality of Ripon
Category "innovation and technique": Alix Inc, a company offering exterior and vehicle maintenance services at home
Category "service to individuals": Terre et neige, a tourist business that offers accommodation and gourmet food
Category "services to businesses": Halte gestion et construction Inc, a construction project development service
Category "exploitation, transformation, production": Carbonne ● Atelier maison, a company that does woodwork, signs and custom logos
The "Success Inc: diversified in business for 5 years" category was for companies that have already participated in the OSEntreprendre challenge and have been in business for 5 years. The winner of this category is Abris Gatineau, a company that sells, rents and installs car shelters, which received a $7,500 grant.
The "Doing Business Together" category brought together local entrepreneurs who stand out because of their procurement methods and who use local and Quebec-based vendors. The winner of this category is the company Les cadeaux Shop moi ça, which received a $5,000 grant.
Finally, several prizes and special bursaries were awarded to participating businesses that strongly impressed the challenge jury. The "Honneur jeune entrepreneur" prize and its $5,000 grant were awarded to the company Terre et neige, as well as the "Coup de coeur Eugène-Tassé" prize. The "Creator of a business" prize was awarded to ABC relais-santé, the regional "Coup de coeur Flexipreneur" prize to Dômes Outaouais, and the "Coup de coeur du jury" prize to Papoum Papoum Papoum Inc. Finally, the Outaouais d'abord prize was awarded to Racines rurales coopérative and the two $25,000 honorary grants from the Ministère de l'économie et de l'innovation were awarded to the craft brewery À la dérive and to the Ferme aux colibris.
The Executive Director of the Carrefour jeunesse emploi de l'Outaouais, Josée Cousineau, addressed the entrepreneurs and finalists during the presentation of the winners: "Daring to undertake requires audacity and courage and you have been able to bring your idea to life and make your dream come true despite the pandemic situation of the last few years. I salute your resilience and your determination". The mayor of Gatineau, France Bélisle, was also present at this virtual gala and mentioned "I am really proud to see this beautiful new generation, new forces that are already shaping the economy of tomorrow."
Photo caption: Sandee Mayner, Maude Forest, William & Julia from Terre et neige (1) /// OSEntreprendre challenge logo (2 - French or English option)
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Photo credit: Courtesy of CJEO (1) /// Courtesy of OSEntreprendre Québec (2 - French or English option)