Northern College has launched an entrepreneur centre, which will deliver entrepreneurship training to the college’s post-secondary and apprenticeship students.
The initiative is a joint project with the Business Enterprise Centre, Enterprise Temiskaming, the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund, the Productivity and Innovation Centre, and NORCAT Innovation Mill. The centre will be a member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE), which aims to connect entrepreneurs with the various resources available to them across the province.
Northern envisions the centre as a tool for promoting entrepreneurship within the college community by delivering basic entrepreneurship training to all of the college’s post-secondary and apprenticeship students.
“We want all of our students, regardless of their field of study, to be aware of entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to traditional forms of employment,” college president Fred Gibbons said in a news release. “By encouraging students and graduates to start their own businesses, we’re supporting job creation and local economic growth.”
Students and graduates who develop an interest in starting a business will be able to access additional resources from the centre, which will be delivered in collaboration with established community agencies. Entrepreneur Centre resources will be available at all Northern College campus locations.
Funding for the centre has been provided by the province’s On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities program, which is managed by Ontario Centres of Excellence.
