News Article

Four teams consisting of 22 students and four faculty members from College of the North Atlantic (CNA) will compete in the 2014 Enactus Canada National Exposition April 28-30 in Calgary, Alta.

The Enactus Canada National Exposition will bring together student, academic and industry leaders from across the country to celebrate the achievements of Canada’s future leaders and entrepreneurs. Over the course of the three-day event, students will showcase how their community outreach projects and business ventures are enabling progress through entrepreneurial action.
 
Teams from Bay St. George, Clarenville, Grand Falls-Windsor and Prince Philip Drive campuses will participate in rounds of live, presentation-based competition.
 
Three of the four CNA teams took home awards from the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition in Halifax, N.S., Mar 6-7. Grand Falls-Windsor took first-runner up in the Capital One Financial Education Challenge, and second runner-up in the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge. The Stephenville (BSG) Enactus team placed second in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge, and Enactus Clarenville took home the award for second runner-up in the Financial Education Challenge.
 
“Networking is a huge benefit to all of our students, especially once they graduate and move into the business world,” said Enactus Clarenville faculty advisor Samantha Downey. “They have contacts they can speak to and potentially find work, or when they have business ideas they have additional resources. (Enactus competitions) also continue to improve oral presentation skills which are a great asset for business people.”
 
Over 50 teams will compete in the Enactus Canada National Exposition. Each of the teams will outline how their community outreach projects are shaping the economic, social and environmental landscape of Canada.
 
“Enactus, I think this year more than ever, is really showing students that a small group of people really can make a difference in their community,” said Kevin Oberholster, president of Enactus Grand Falls-Windsor.
 
“We have successfully delivered over 90 per cent of projects we set out to do, so from that perspective, and for me, Enactus has really meant a lot to see that it can achieve these kinds of results.”
 
Kevin says it’s wonderful for the students, faculty and support staff that have participated to be able to see those results.
 
“In terms of the upcoming trip to Calgary, I’d love to see us place in our category. We were very successful in the regional competition. As a small student body, with a very small Enactus team compared to the top universities we compete against, we always do well. I think it would be awesome to place in the national exposition in Calgary and just represent for CNA and CNA Grand Falls-Windsor.”
 
Business leaders serving as judges will determine which Enactus team and student entrepreneur will be named national champions and represent Canada on the global stage. Each team will compete in one of eight leagues of the opening round of competition. The top two teams in each opening round league will move onto the semi-finals. The top team in each of the semi-final leagues will move on to the final round of competition. From there, four teams will get the opportunity to present their community outreach projects on the final stage where the national champion will be selected.
 
“I am so proud of our Enactus students and the leadership as well as community engagement they demonstrate,” said Mary Vaughan, CNA’s Dean of Business and Information Technology. “Through their hard work and dedication, they are leading positive changes in our communities that will be felt for years to come! I wish them the best of luck and success at the national competition in Calgary.”
 
Competition updates will be available via Twitter at @Enactus_Canada and searchable with the hashtag #ECNationals.
 
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Media Contact:
 
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca