PCI entrepreneurial showcase allows students to make their own businesses

Jewelry, food, home decor, woodworking, and more were on display as students from Portage Collegiate Institute showcased their businesses.

Sean Hopps, the applied commerce ed teacher at PCI, says the students have been working on this project since the semester began, with the only rule being that the business would be showcased on May 24th. He notes he was very impressed with the quality of the businesses.

Hopps says, while they normally hold the showcase annually, they had to hold off for a little bit due to COVID restrictions.

"I think having a little bit of a delay for our showcase has been a positive experience," explains Hopps. "Because a lot of the students that are here have never seen this before."

Some of the student business owners say that finding effective branding was the hardest part of getting their business off the ground, as it can be a struggle to stand out from the crowd. Another challenge they had to overcome was the creation of some of the products, as some of them were very complex.

Alongside students and members of the community, Mayor Irvine Ferris was in attendance to show support. He mentions he was pleasantly surprised with both the businesses and the support from the rest of the school and community.

"There were really high-quality products and, obviously, some creative ideas here as even when it comes to marketing," says Ferris. "And some delicious products as we were just tasting."

He adds it was great to see the effort put in by all the students to make sure their businesses were a success.