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Owners Wanted: group seeks young entrepreneurs in Sask

Jan 11, 2014 | 3:17 PM

A January campaign wants to attract young people in Saskatchewan to start their own businesses.

Owners Wanted is a series of coffee dates set up at local shops throughout the month.

“A lot of the revitalization that we're seeing in (Saskatoon) and in Regina is really due to a lot of these young entrepreneurs that are making it happen,” said Taunya Woods Richardson, director of the Saskatchewan Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF).

But she believes there are more ideas out there.

That's why CYBF has launched Owners Wanted.

Anyone between the ages of 18 and 39 with a business idea can show up to share their idea with a professional in a safe environment with no obligations and no strings attached.

“Once the idea is out there, that's the seed, and it can often grow a life of its own,” Woods Richardson said.

www.3twenty.ca “>3Twenty Solutions is a local company that got its start through CYBF. They take expired shipping containers and retro fit them to make temporary living dwellings for workers in the resource sector.

“They're a really good example of just a crazy idea where people thought there's no way,” Woods Richardson said.

Another CYBF business, Renterra, allows property owners to put their land up for rent online to get the best price based on what the market is doing. Historically, land owners would post an ad in small local papers.

“This really allows the farmers to have this competitive field all of a sudden and get their space out in a global market place,” Woods Richardson said.

CYBF wants to provide financing to 30 young entrepreneurs in 2014 and will use the Owners Wanted campaign to kick start that goal. The organization can loan up to $45,000 to through a partnership with the Business Development Bank of Canada. The money can be used for anything except research and development.

Woods Richardson said she believes millennials are looking at their approach to life differently. The traditional way of building a career, working with a company for 50 years and buying into a pension plan is very rare today.

“I think for them, they're trying to build their own security going forward, I think they're also trying to make a difference,” Woods Richardson said.

awills@rawlco.com

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