Kole Casey is the founder of Nordic Vale Honey Farm. Photo credit: Nordic Vale Facebook
DAWSON CREEK – Nordic Vale Honey Farm was one of eight aspiring entrepreneurs across Canada to share in a total of $80,000 to kickstart their dream business. Nordic Vale is a northern family owned and operated apiary within the Dawson Creek area, providing an enriched family farm experience that produces local honey from farm-raised bees and other bee-related products. With a high yield honey production focus and diversifying products, Nordic Vale Honey Farm products could include honey, mead, crafts/candles, pollen, and equipment.
The Farm provides great-tasting, high-quality honey products and meads using local ingredients from around the Peace River area and beyond. Funds from the award will help “purchase the remaining commercial honey extracting equipment required to help Nordic Vale Honey Farm run our full-scale business operations,” founder Kole Casey explains. “We are very excited for this opportunity!”
Futurpreneur, Canada’s only national, non-profit organization providing financing, mentorship and resources to aspiring entrepreneurs, announced the eight recipients of the RBC Rock My Business Start-Up Awards. Each award recipient will receive $10,000 to kickstart their dream business, rewarding their participation in Futurpreneur’s newly expanded, free digital Rock My Business workshop series.
The annual awards, which saw over 160 applicants this year, aim to encourage a more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem in Canada. The awards were provided to six recipients aged 18 to 29 for the Youth Entrepreneur Awards, one recipient for the Emerging Black Entrepreneur Award, and one recipient for the Emerging Entrepreneur Award for aspiring business owners aged 30 to 39.
“We help entrepreneurs overcome the challenges associated with starting a business, and our aim at Futurpreneur is to make entrepreneurship accessible to anyone with a great idea,” said Charles Finley, Chief Experience Officer at Futurpreneur. “Thanks to support from RBC, we are thrilled to provide these eight recipients with both the foundational knowledge and funding to help make their businesses a reality. These aspiring young entrepreneurs are great representatives for our redesigned and expanded three-part digital Rock My Business Series, which is available to all those who are in the early stages of developing their business.”
The recently enhanced three-part Rock My Business series started in 2017 and has been funded by RBC Foundation in support of RBC Future Launch, the bank’s 10-year, $500 million commitment to empower Canadian youth for the jobs of tomorrow. After shifting to a 100 per cent virtual model, the series, which includes business coaching from resident entrepreneurs, has equipped over 2,000 young, aspiring entrepreneurs from across Canada with the skills, confidence and knowledge needed to develop a launch-ready business plan.
“At RBC, we are driven by our purpose of helping our clients thrive and communities prosper. As part of a rich and diverse economic ecosystem, youth-led small businesses contribute to our communities in a significant way,” said Mark Beckles, Vice President, Social Impact & Innovation at RBC. “By supporting Futurpreneur’s expanded programming, we bring the promise of RBC Future Launch to life for young entrepreneurs across the country. We will help to break down barriers for aspiring entrepreneurs, democratizing access to the programming and resources needed to ensure all Canadian youth are prepared for the future of work.”
Supporting aspiring entrepreneurs in Canada, the Rock My Business workshop series helps future business owners determine what makes a viable business before proceeding to learn the basics of developing a successful business plan and realistic cash flow statement. The workshop series takes place every year, and participants can visit the Rock My Business page to sign up for the next available workshops.
