Audience vote helps to determine winners at Junior Dragons Den Championship

The Junior Dragons Den Championship was held on May 6th at the Charles Bailey theatre in Trail, B.C.

by Keith Powell — May 17, 2017

Junior Dragons Den is a student business competition and call to action for entrepreneurs from Grades 7 to College/Trades school level to create their own summer job/business, or to expand an existing one. — Photo courtesy Junior Dragons Den

The audience vote helped to determine the winners of the recently held Junior Dragons Den Championship, May 6th at the Charles Bailey theatre in Trail, BC. The audience vote counted for 50% of the valuation for each business presenting.

Competing in three different divisions, Junior (Grades 8-10), Senior (Grades 11-12) and College/ University, competitors had 2 minutes to pitch to the judges, following the airing of a short promotional video which had been produced for the competition, highlighting their business or business concept.

“The decision to change the value of the audience vote from 20% to 50% at the Championship made a big difference in the outcome,” stated Don Freschi, GM and Community Futures Greater Trail. With the remainder of the vote resting with the judges, it made for an interesting ‘reality show’ type of vibe” stated Freschi.

And the winners were:

Junior division (Grade 8-10)

1st place—Jessica Zwick, Megan Cousins, NIX, Stanley Humphries
2nd place—Skye LaPorte, Salmo Secondary School.
3rd place—Allison Plamondon, Deb Step, Rossland Summits School

College/University Division

1st place—Laurie Ford, Tyler McCauley, Desirae Robinson, Alex Reaburn, The Roving Gatsby, Selkirk College
2nd place—Vanessa Legge, Joyful Seeds, Selkirk College
3rd place—Mitch Roscoe, Ryan Henderson, Creative North Branding, Selkirk College

Prize money awarded to the winners must be used to expand an existing business, launch a new business, or go toward tuition for post secondary education.

The Junior Dragons Den team at CFDC Trail, is currently in discussion with several CFDC offices throughout the province, with the goal of adding more shows in 2018 to continue with their provincial expansion.