In This Issue
They Built. We Benefit.
It's A Celebration!
Office Tour Was A Hoot!
Donors Are Doubling Down

Quick Links

 

Press Room
Nominate a Business Leader!

 

Do you know a BC business leader who has made an outstanding contribution to our province and country? If so, we invite you to nominate them for the Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame.
 
For more information or to submit a nomination, please click here
Nomination deadline for the 2015 BLBC Laureates is September 8, 2014.

 

Top 25 Under 25

 

Congratulations JA Company Program students Ashwini Canagaratnam, Hanchao (Henry) Guo, Jeff Wu, and Urba Khan, for being named as recipients of Surrey Board of Trade's Top 25 Under 25 Awards!

 

The award recognizes business and community minded people under the age of 25, who are either working in Surrey or working on a business or community related project in/for Surrey. The top 25 winners were honoured as role models for their community at an awards reception on June 12, 2014. For more information, please click here.

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Comments or Questions about this Newsletter?

 

Rosine Hage-Moussa

Manager, Marketing & Communications

(604) 688-3887 ext. 231 

President's Message

 

Jan Bell-Irving, President & CEO, JABC

Hello JABC Community!

 

Wow, what a year! As we wrap up our programs for the 2013-2014 year and look back on all that we have done, I'm so proud of what we have accomplished. Not only have we been able to expand more of our programs to rural communities such as Haida Gwaii, but we have introduced new scholarships, reached more students and are working on refreshing and introducing digital components into our programs, Economics for Success and Dollars with Sense. All of these successes wouldn't be possible without the incredible support of the teachers, volunteers and generous donors, all of whom have a common goal of bringing experiential and relevant business education to the youth of B.C. For years,  Junior Achievement (JA) across the country has been successfully preparing students for business in terms of ensuring students have a higher level of success when entering the workforce, creating an annual return to society, and contributing to Canada's GDP. JA conducted a study in 2012 to measure the impacts of these programs and I would encourage you to take a look at the numbers.

 

The 2014/2015 year will mark JABC's 60th anniversary and we are looking forward to celebrating this milestone with the entire JABC community. Watch for our feature stories and event invitations next fall and get involved by volunteering or donating. 

 

Finally, 2015 is also the 10th anniversary of our Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame and we have a special celebration planned in its honour. Visit our Business Laureates of BC website for more information.
 
Thank you again to all of you who have worked so hard to make our programs a success. You all have a lot to be proud of and I'm looking forward to making 2014/2015 an even bigger success.

 

Jan Bell-Irving

President & CEO

Junior Achievement of British Columbia

 
They Built. We Benefit.
 
2014 Laureate Inductees with BLBC Co-chairs Peter Blake, CEO, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (Far left), and Barbara Brink, Vice President, Applied Strategies Ltd. (Middle right)

 

Local legends, provincial luminaries and JA youth came together on May 22, 2014 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver to celebrate the induction of the Business Laureates of British Columbia (BLBC) Hall of Fame's newest Laureates. The BLBC Hall of Fame was created by JABC to honour BC business leaders who have made outstanding contributions to our province and country. This year's inductees were Lucille Johnstone (1924-2004), former President of the RivTow Group; Dave Lede, Chairman & CEO, Ledcor Group of Companies;  and the Owners of Boston Pizza International, George Melville and Jim Treliving.

 

Co-sponsored by Scotiabank Group and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, the evening kicked off by traditional bagpipers who ushered attendees into the ballroom. This was then followed by Stephen Quinn, Host of CBC's On The Coast taking to the mic to emcee the night's festivities. The crowd was treated to a keynote address from M. Elyse Allan, President & CEO, GE Canada, as well as Alina Huang and Wendy Ming, who shared their personal JA stories with the audience as winners of JABC's Student Award for Oratory and Presentation Skills. Moreover, the student team from Sa-Hali Secondary School in Kamloops were also honoured at the event as the Grand Prize winners at JABC's first-ever Innovation Jam. Proceeds from the BLBC Hall of Fame Gala support the efforts of JABC in developing and maintaining high quality business education programs for youth.

 

Nominations for the 2015 Laureate Inductees are now open. If you know a business leader who has made an outstanding contribution to the BC business landscape, please click here for more information on how to submit a nomination. Photos and videos from the 2014 BLBC Hall of Fame Gala are also available on our Flickr and YouTube pages.
 
It's a Celebration!

 

CIBC Student Company of the Year, Just Jars
 
Congratulations are in order for Just Jars for winning the prestigious CIBC Student Company of the Year award at this year's Celebrate JA!. Presented annually by CIBC, Celebrate JA! is Junior Achievement of British Columbia's awards and recognition event, where the achievements of JABC students who have shown extraordinary leadership, drive and creativity while involved in JABC high school programs are recognized. This year's event took place on June 3, 2014 at the Beedie School of Business in downtown Vancouver, and featured a keynote address from Jackie Kai Ellis, owner of Beaucoup Bakery & Caf�.

 

Just Jars was a 12-week student run company that manufactured jars containing dry ingredients. This enabled consumers to make a complete meal, drink or dessert with only the addition of a few wet ingredients. Other CIBC Student Company award recipients include:

  • Profit Performance Award:  Zigz, a company which sold stylish, tangle-free headphones
  • Innovation AwardBurnaby Built, a company which developed products that focused on the pride Burnaby, BC citizens take in being "Burnaby Built"
  • Digital Marketing AwardreYOUvenate, a company which manufactured and sold homemade spa products

For a full list of award winners, click here. Photos from this year's event are available on our Flickr page.

 
If you are a teacher interested in the opportunity for your students to win such awards and scholarships, it's not too late to host a Company Program for next year. Click here 
for more information and to sign up. 
Office Tour Was A Hoot!

 

Members of JABC's Ambassador Club

 

Members of Junior Achievement of British Columbia's Ambassador Club recently had the exciting opportunity to participate in tours of Hootsuite's headquarters in downtown Vancouver. Hootsuite is a social relationship platform for businesses and organizations to collaboratively execute campaigns across social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ Pages from one secure, web-based dashboard. With over 9 million users worldwide, Hootsuite is one of the largest social media platforms in the world, with over 400 employees and counting.

 

During the tours, JABC's Ambassadors learned about the inner-workings of a social media management organization. From business development to customer experience, every aspect of the organization was explored, with participants learning about the role social media plays in a business' marketing strategy.

 

The Ambassador Club is an opportunity for young Junior Achievement Alumni to remain connected with Junior Achievement once they've completed JABC's programs. As members, they are invited to attend JA events and board meetings, represent JA at conferences and tradeshows, and develop the marketing, networking and communications skills needed to excel in business. If you are between the ages of 17 - 24, sign up for JABC's Ambassador Club by clicking here or e-mailing Rosine Hage-Moussa at [email protected]

Donors Are Doubling Down

 

Cariboo Cookies with the Hon. Naomi Yamamoto, Minister of State for Tourism and Small Business

 

This has been an exciting year for Junior Achievement of British Columbia, as we have increased the number of students served across the province. This expanded reach is significantly due to the generosity of our donors, which make the delivery of our business education programs possible. To all of our donors, JABC thanks you!

 

Joining JA's long-time donors, new partners have stepped up this year to expand JA programs and reach more students across the province. One example is Ledcor Group of Companies (Ledcor), which generously committed a total of $200,000 over the next five years to support JA business education programs in both BC and in Northern Alberta.

 

Specifically, the contribution will support the expansion of JA's Company Program outside of metropolitan areas. In addition, Ledcor is underwriting a new Company Program award; The Ledcor Group Rural Company of the Year award recognizes the top Company Program team from outside of an urban area with a $3,000 award. This year's winning team was Cariboo Cookies from Lake City Secondary in Williams Lake.
 
If you are interested in supporting the next generation of business and community leaders with a donation or gift, please contact Crystal Lynch at [email protected] or click here  for more information.
JABC Program Team:
Comings & Goings

As our year comes to a close, we extend warm appreciation to three colleagues who are retiring from their JA roles, and welcome their successors.

 

Farewell and a round of applause for Sabinah Rafiq, Program Manager, Fraser Valley - Surrey who has done a stellar job covering Laura Roberts' maternity leave year. We look forward to Laura's return in early September.

 

A fond farewell to Kirsti Kirkness, Program Manager, Kamloops, who plans to return to school to pursue her Masters of Education in curriculum development. We thank Kirsti for her many contributions, and look forward to staying in touch with her in the future as an educator.
 
Farewell too to Santhy Yeager, Program Coordinator, Okanagan, who supported the "Business Basics" elementary school programs in Kelowna and surrounding area. Santhy has also herself been a wonderful volunteer for JA in Kelowna, a favourite of many teachers over many years. Thank you Santhy!

 

Welcome, Kara Wright, our new Program Coordinator in Kamloops. Kara brings to JA extensive events and volunteer coordination experience, most recently as Race Director of the Kamloops Kids of Steel Triathlon. Kara is herself a triathlete and has been honoured for her community contributions to local Triathlons and the Western Canada Summer Games. She is currently completing her Bachelors of Commerce at Thompson Rivers University and providing consulting services to Kamloops small businesses.

 

And welcome, Sue Bojahra, our new Program Coordinator in Kelowna. A self-described "tech savvy nerd with a passion for business and entrepreneurship", Sue is the founder/co-owner of 4Kids Online Enterprises, a leading source of information for families in the Okanagan Valley, and runs Websavvy Small Business Solutions, providing web, social media, marketing and design services. Sue has also been a Team Leader with Disney Online Studios (Club Penguin) and a Director of Communications with the Jaycees of the Okanagan.

 

Congratulations to Jason Ranchoux, currently our Regional Manager, Okanagan, who will become Regional Manager, Interior on July 1st. Jason will now be overseeing a larger territory including Kelowna and Kamloops, and helping us establish a new territory in the Kootenays.

 

Finally, we are thrilled to announce that we are creating a new staff position in 2014-15 to support dramatic program growth in the Kootenays. We look forward to announcing our new Program Coordinator very soon.

 

Have a great summer!