To add to the excitement, less than a month away a new set of hand-selected entrepreneurs will be pitching at Venture Okanagan’s sixth Investors Forum at Okanagan College. On Wednesday April 3^rd entrepreneurs will present their businesses to accredited investors, business leaders, and the VO community. The top presenter will be walking away with a cash prize of $5000 provided by the esteemed VO title sponsors Grant Thorton LLP and Prospera Credit Union. With cash on the line entrepreneurs are stepping up their game and  putting their best foot forward.

Guests will have the opportunity to connect with presenters at the fully catered reception. Live music, complimentary beverages, and delicious treats prepared by OC Advanced Culinary Arts students will top off this unforgettable evening. Doors open at 5:30pm and presentations begin at 6:00pm. As full attendance is expected for the spring forum early registration is strongly encouraged. Tickets are $35.00 and can be purchased online at http://www.ventureokanagan.com/#!events

For more information contact Project Manager Reid Schretlen at

ventureokanagan@gmail.com

Capital One Financial Education Challenge

TD Entrepreneurship Challenge

Scotiabank Eco-living Green Challenge

Teams from the top universities and colleges in Western Canada, spanning from Manitoba to British Columbia, presented on a range of projects.  After the last presentation, the teams filed in for the closing ceremonies. The energy in the room was indescribable! Enactus OC and Enactus TRU had each brought the largest contingent of members, representing central BC with outstanding sportsmanship and positive attitude. The final results were announced: Enactus OC proudly walked away with a Bronze in Financial Literacy, Gold in Entrepreneurship, and Gold in Eco-living Green! Also worth noting is a brand new team from Enactus Medicine Hat College, who have been in operations for only six months and took home the bronze in their league of the Financial Education Challenge – a perfect example of the entrepreneurial spirit in action!

Enactus Okanagan College would like to congratulate all the teams for their dedication and hard work, and we are looking forward to the National Exposition in Toronto in May. A special shout out to our amazing faculty advisors, member and alumni support, and to Okanagan College for helping us make this years’ regional exposition a success!

Final Results

TD Entrepreneurship Challenge

League A
Winner: Okanagan College
Runner-Up: Mount Royal University
Second Runner-Up: University of Saskatchewan

League B
Winner: University of Calgary
Runner-Up: Thompson Rivers University
Second Runner-Up: University of Victoria

Scotiabank Ecoliving Green Challenge

League A
Winner: University of Calgary
Runner-Up: Thompson Rivers University

League B
Winner: Okanagan College
Runner-Up: Mount Royal University

Capital One Financial Education Challenge

League A
Winner: Simon Fraser University
Runner-Up: British Columbia Institute of Technology
Second Runner-Up: Medicine Hat College

League B
Winner: Thompson Rivers University
Runner-Up: Mount Royal University
Second Runner-Up: Okanagan College

Our Team

  Regional Champions – TD Entrepreneurship Challenge

Karen Vandergaag, Tech, Kelowna Student
Bill Wang, Presenter, Kelowna Student
Kyleen Myrah, Assistant Faculty Advisor
Molly Ciardullo, Presenter, Kelowna Student
Dean Warner, Faculty Advisor
Ryan Lancaster, Presenter, Penticton Student
Lacey Cross,  Tech, Kelowna Student

Regional Champions – Scotiabank Ecoliving Green Challenge

Shei Seaton, Faculty Advisor
Alex Fullerton, Tech, Kelowna Student
Christi Hopkins, Presenter, Kelowna Student
Monika Jassi,  Presenter, Vernon Student
Glen Larkin, Presenter, Kelowna Student
Nikki Weibe, Tech, Vernon Student

Regional Third Place Winners – Capital One Financial Education Challenge

Evan Dizak, Presenter, Kelowna Student
Kyleen Myrah, Assistant Faculty Advisor
Kayleigh Zinger, Tech, Kelowna Student
Allison Murray, Presenter, Kelowna Student
Trina Carrol, Tech, Penticton Student
Kris Goralski, Presenter, Salmon Arm Student
Barb Nudd, Faculty Advisor

The Enactus Charity Challenge

Once again Enactus Okanagan College is inviting you to take part in the second annual Enactus Charity Challenge.

The Enactus Charity Challenge is a fundraiser to benefit the North Okanagan Hospice Society as well as Enactus Okanagan College (formerly known as SIFE Okanagan). We launched this event last year with the North Okanagan Hospice Society and raised $3,000 for two very worthy causes.

The main attraction of the event is a Family Feud style competition between Kal Tire, Community Futures, one other local business, and attendees. It is a great opportunity for social or business networking with appetizers and drinks being served, as well as a cash only silent auction.

Tickets include a wide array of appetizers and one complimentary drink. We will have a bar with beer, wine and coolers available for $4 each.

Purchase your tickets now

For additional information please contact Terry Grazier: (t) 250-307-8897 (e) terry.grazier@gmail.com

Tickets are available in advance from Ticket Seller.

It was a jam packed day today! Support team members have all arrived and our whole team is fueled with energy and excitement. The presentation teams have been through rounds and rounds of practices and  some prickly Q&A sessions, it all comes down to tomorrow. Each topic, (Financial Education, Entrepreneurship, Eco-living Green) will compete in two leagues. The top two teams from each league will proceed to compete in their topic challenge at the National exposition in Toronto in May, 2013. The opening ceremonies were kicked off by most possibly THE most epic display of awesomeness: the Enactus Cactus Dance off!! The dueling cacti mascots from Thompson Rivers University and Okanagan College (that’s me!) put on an impressive show with some very, um, interesting moves. Of course, there was no clear winner (ahem.. it was me.. just kidding); it was all in good fun. The energy in the room expanded as teams chanted and cheered their school names. The guest speaker, Mike Wahl gave some inspiring words along with some excellent Star Wars metaphors. Presentation times and league pairings were announced at the end of the ceremonies and we were off for more rounds of practice and finally a good nights sleep with absolutely no shenanigans (well maybe a quick trip to the hotel pool…). Its bright and early for tech checks in the morning! Stay tuned for more updates!!

Goodnight y’all!

Enactus Cactus

The rounds of presentations are judged by business leaders who select the regional champions in each topic that will move on to the final round of competition at the Enactus Canada National Competition. The competitive process, along with additional programming, provides an opportunity for collaboration and best-practice sharing, fosters innovation, encourages results and rewards excellence in entrepreneurial, community leadership.

The Exposition takes place March 7-8, 2013. Enactus Okanagan College will be hosting a local sendoff for the teams on Monday March 4th, 5:30 to 9:30pm at the Kelowna Okanagan College campus in room H115. We invite local business leaders and community members to watch our presentations and provide their feedback. You can also follow the action on Facebook and Twitter by following us @EnactusOC and #ECRegionals! One team, one dream, making it happen!

Every year Enactus OC , in partnership with Okanagan College civil engineering students, participates in this event and submits a structure. All items used to make the structure are donated to the Kelowna food bank. As part of the Help Hunger Disappear project, Canstruction helps raise food, funds, and awareness for local hunger initiatives. This years theme for the Enactus OC structure is “Keeping Family Close”

It’s three people of different culture coming around a tree to symbolize a family tree and to show that family can be a blend of different cultures just like a community is. Also the reason why we had a slogan keeping family close is because our community is very much an extention of our family. This structure was one of our biggest structures yet coming in at a total of 7,474 items when it was all finished.

Tara Chalmers, Help Hunger Disappear Kelowna Project Manager

The sponsors that helped make the dream of building this sculpture a reality are Campbells, Sun Rype, Alpin & Martin Consultants Ltd, Okanagan College and Spider Agile Technology. This structure took approximately three days to build with Civil Engineer students Carson Todd, Matthew Kielpinski, Mitch Bariesheff, Petrus Stofberg and Trevor Siemens and Enactus members Tara Chalmers, Glen Larkin, Scott Harvey, Axel Funk, and Karen Vandergaag.

There are several award categories for the event, and you can vote either on the Canstruction website or Facebook! Sow your support and vote for us now!

]]> http://enactusoc.ca/canstruction-2013/feed/ 0 http://enactusoc.ca/how-to-nominate-your-favorite-green-business-vernon/ http://enactusoc.ca/how-to-nominate-your-favorite-green-business-vernon/#comments Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:54:57 +0000 Jordan http://enactusoc.ca/?p=996 Partnered with the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce, Enactus Okanagan College is committed to the Greater Vernon Business Excellence Awards.

This year we hope to give recognition where recognition is due by discovering, auditing, and awarding green businesses in the area for their earth conscious business practices.

But we need your help!…

Do you know of a business that strives to be environmentally sustainable?

Do you know someone who does?

Nominate them here.

Deadline is January 25th, so nominate your favorite green business now!

For over 20 years, the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce has been celebrating business success!

The Business Excellence Awards recognize outstanding business achievement of successful businesses and people in the Greater Vernon region and the contributions they make to the growth and prosperity of our economy.

This annual business function is the Chamber’s largest event bringing together business, government and industry leaders from all over the area to join in celebrating the achievements of our business community.

Click here to nominate a Business for a Business Excellence Award today!

Check out our most recent article and keep your eyes peeled for more to come!

Vernon Morning Star