Now here is an opportunity I wish I had been given when I was in summer camp! This August a group of 44 young entrepreneurs aged 14 to 16 will be invited to join Carrefour Jeunesse-Emploi of Montreal.

It is a summer camp for young entrepreneurs where students will get a taste of what it is like to own their own business. They will learn the differences between working for yourself and working for someone else and will also get to hear from and meet guest speakers who are local entrepreneurs coming to share their experience and wisdom.

In addition, representatives from young entrepreneur organizations are invited to come to the camp and introduce what they do and how the students can get involved.

“What we are trying do is promote entrepreneurship among youth and create and entrepreneurial spirit,” said Katherine Korakakis, coordinator of last year’s inaugural camp. “As such, we have to come up with initiatives and activities involving this spirit, and since there’s no school in the summer, we came up with the camp idea.”

The students will also get workshops on the different stages of running a business and learn about financing, business planning, market research, and production. On the last day of camp the students have to actually produce a product or create a service.

While I enjoyed planning tennis and learning karate at my summer camps I wish this option would have been available to me when I was in school!

Evan Carmichael