How St. Clair College will make you a better Student Entrepreneur

By Kylie Turner

Students with an entrepreneurial spirit can find support for their ideas at St. Clair College.

October is small business month across Canada and students can seek help at the St. Clair College Genesis Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre. The Centre has been offering assistance to students wanting to learn about entrepreneurship since September 2015.

The joint effort between Genesis and the Ontario Centre of Excellence makes them a part of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent areas. Genesis’ purpose is to provide students with the knowledge to help themselves and help grow the start-up community.

The Genesis Centre welcomes all students or alumni to get involved. Lauren Nantau, Marketing and Events coordinator at Genesis, said all students are encouraged to stop by to see how they can get involved.

“Any student or alumni from any area of study can be involved at Genesis,” said Nantau. “Whether you have a business idea or not, the skills learned at Genesis help you think more creatively and innovatively in any business or job position.”

The Centre provides students with resources to educate them about how to reach their entrepreneurship goals. It can also benefit students who already have business ideas.

“We offer a number of different resources such as workshops, one-on-one mentoring sessions, networking events, and an Entrepreneurship Club,” said Nantau.

The average number of students who participate in the program depends on what resources they are using. There are many students who have successfully graduated from these workshops.

“There are roughly an average of 10 students in each workshop and then we have about five to 10 one-on-one sessions per week,” said Nantau. “Last year, we graduated 31 students in our workshops in the first year.”

Cierra Bray, president and founder of CGal Media, volunteered and helped the Genesis Centre with events in her last year of college. Bray participated in the Business Model Canvas Workshop which helped her with starting her business.

“If you’re passionate about something, you can start a business,” said Bray. “The Genesis Centre has helped me a lot and I’m thankful they are a resource for St. Clair College Students.”