Kootenay Entrepreneurship Program (KEP) is offering a competition in February called Startup Showdown that will help students acquire business and leadership skills.
KEP is a collaborative program offered by College of the Rockies (COTR), Selkirk College and Kootenay Association for Science and Technology. Startup Showdown will run on Feb. 3 and 4 and is open for all college students, even those with no business background. It will be hosted on COTR’s Cranbrook campus and at Selkirk College in Castlegar.
Students, divided into teams of two to four people, will be tasked with building a conceptual plan for a business and then making necessary changes to help the business thrive. The teams will use software developed by Wharton Business School, that will allow them to choose from a few different business ideas.
Participants must assign themselves different roles within their business framework, like CEO or marketing manager, and they will need to react to obstacles that are thrown their way that could prevent their startup from thriving.
The competition is a simulation of what an a real-life entrepreneurial team would go through over the course of a few years.
”What we’re trying to do is find students who are not in traditional business school programs and allow them to see that entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills can exist in any career path,” said COTR’s manager of applied research and innovation Paul Tiege.
“Some of the elements of entrepreneurship that should apply to everyone’s natural life, aren’t really being taught or explored at the high school level. Students could be adopting career pathways that better match their own ambitions and strengths if they knew that it was possible.”
The competition will be hosted by renowned business expert Mike Konkin, who operates Trail Beer Refinery. He will be joined by a panel of entrepreneurial experts, who will serve as judges and evaluate each group’s performance. Winners will be given awards.
Tiege said bringing in experts allows students to be mentored and network to gain connections.
“The students will also have the opportunity to have conversations with these people and ask them what they’re doing, what mistakes they’ve made in the past.”
Students can register in teams or as individuals, but solo participants will be placed in a group. There is room for up to 50 students to take part.
Registration for the two-day event is free and complementary food and refreshments will be provided. The first day will be dedicated to preparation for the competition — learning how the game is played and becoming familiarized with the software — and the competition will commence the following day.
Tiege said the competition was created to help inspire students to pursue a career that they love, even if it’s not conventional.
“Not every entrepreneur is Elon Musk,” he explained. “There’s a lot of people in the Kootenay region who are doing it to live their lifestyle. They’re here because they want to be here, because they love snowboarding every day and they don’t fit into a typical nine to five job. It’s possible to be able to do what you love and live the life you love without compromising your values.”
Although KEP ran other entrepreneurship events previously, this will be the first interactive competition. Funding for the event comes from the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior-B.C and the provincial government.
“This year we just wanted something a bit more fun,” said Tiege.
He added that ultimately, the competition seeks to inspire young adults to reach their potential.
“Having the creativity and imagination for change and agency to be able to do, is what drives entrepreneurship in society.”
To sign up for Startup Showdown visit www.kast.com/forms/startup-showdown/