NEWS RELEASE
NORTHERN COLLEGE
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Northern College officially launched its new Entrepreneur Centre at an event hosted at the college’s Timmins Campus today.
Representatives from Ontario Centres of Excellence, the City of Timmins and various local partners were in attendance.
The Entrepreneur Centre has been established by the college in partnership with the Business Enterprise Centre, Enterprise Temiskaming, the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund, the Productivity and Innovation Centre, and NORCAT Innovation Mill.
The centre will be a member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE), which aims to connect entrepreneurs with the various resources available to them across the province.
Northern envisions the centre as a tool for promoting entrepreneurship within the college community by delivering basic entrepreneurship training to all of the college’s post-secondary and apprenticeship students.
“We want all of our students, regardless of their field of study, to be aware of entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to traditional forms of employment,” says Fred Gibbons, President of Northern College. “By encouraging students and graduates to start their own businesses, we’re supporting job creation and local economic growth.”
Students and graduates who develop an interest in starting a business will be able to access additional resources from the centre, which will be delivered in collaboration with established community agencies.
Entrepreneur Centre resources will be available at all Northern College campus locations.
“Fostering the entrepreneurial spirit among students is a key component of Ontario’s Youth Jobs Strategy, through programs that help transfer their ideas and skills to the marketplace while creating rewarding careers,” says Minister of Research and Innovation and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Reza Moridi. “By partnering with colleges and universities to support entrepreneurship, we are ensuring our province’s business leaders of tomorrow are getting the support they need to succeed today.”
Funding for the centre has been provided by the province’s On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities program, which is managed by Ontario Centres of Excellence.
The program is a central pillar of the Government of Ontario’s Youth Jobs strategy.
The strategy is seeing the province invest $295 million over two years to help 30,000 young people across the province connect with the tools, experiences and entrepreneurial support they’ll need to find employment or start a business.
“Ontario Centres of Excellence is pleased to be able to deliver this project as a trusted partner of the Government of Ontario,” says Dr. Tom Corr, President and CEO of Ontario Centres of Excellence. “I look forward to putting our years of experience in connecting academia and industry, and our on-going support of young entrepreneurs to good use in making this initiative a tremendous success.”
Funded by the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) is Ontario’s innovation system.
The ONE is made up of regional and sector focused organizations designed to help Ontario-based entrepreneurs rapidly grow their companies, and create jobs.
For more information visit onebusiness.ca.
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