Teens with dreams of starting a business and becoming rich beyond their wildest dreams when they graduate from high or post secondary school take note: You have just over a week left to apply to take part in a summer camp that offers to plant the seed that could bloom into an entity that will make those dreams come true.
So says Ali Mouallem, business analyst for the Community Futures Lesser Slave Lake Region (formerly the Lesser Slave Lake Business Development Corporation). He’s one of a dozen or so analysts from CFs across Northern Alberta who is laying the groundwork for the first ever Northern Alberta Young Entrepreneurs Camp. It’ll take place in Aug. 19 - 25 at Camp Warwa near Lac St. Anne, about 80 km. west of Edmonton.
Teens between the ages of 13 and 15 will learn – among other things — about the four ‘P’s of business – product, pricing, place and promotion, says Mouallem. As well as having oodles of fun, the campers will be able to pick up on a variety of planning, marketing strategies, and other business tips from the various CF business analysts from across northern Alberta.
But the piece d’resistance, says Mouallem, promises to be the lessons delivered by a woman who goes by the moniker Lemonade Lady.
Vickie Newmeyer from Meridian Community Futures in Kindersley, Saskatchewan will help the teens plan, create, market, launch, and operate their own businesses during the week-long camp. “Our goal is to give students the basics of small business and teamwork – and let them have fun too!” Mouallem adds.
In fact, when they’re not learning about or developing their own businesses, campers will be taking part in a multitude of outdoor experiences ranging from rock climbing to kayaking and racing down zip lines.
Mouallem says organizers have modeled the camp on similar ventures set up by their CF business analyst counterparts in the southern portion of the province. They’ve hosted successful camps for the past number of years. And it was their enthusiasm and many success stories that prompted the northern counterparts to follow suit.
As well as helping with the planning and operation of the camp, the local business analyst will deliver some lessons of his own at the week-long event.
At 29, he’s a business partner as well as business analyst and economic development student. He says he’s very excited about taking part in the camp and wishes he’d been invited to one when he was in his teens.
“It would have been great to have this” information so readily available, he says.
“It certainly could have given us a better direction” to follow as the business took flight. Students looking for more information can call Mouallem at 849-3232 or check out the camp’s website at www.nayec.ca.
The camp is free for the 55 teens selected to take part, says Mouallem. That’s thanks to the generosity of organizations and businesses in the respective CF regions.
The analyst says he’s issuing an invitation to students in high schools across the region and will be sending four from the area that extends from Wabasca to High Prairie. Applications are with guidance counselors at the high schools, or interested students can download the forms by going to www.nayec.ca .

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