Raising dragons

Community Futures of Greater Trail is establishing a series of Junior Dragons’ Dens in southeastern B.C.

by Marie Milner — September 02, 2015

A Junior Dragons' Den contestant engages judges Jordan Strobel and Spencer Smith in her demonstration. — Photo courtesy Community Futures of Greater Trail

CBC’s Dragons’ Den is a popular reality TV show that offers Canadian entrepreneurs the opportunity to obtain funding for business expansion from a panel of Canadian tycoons. Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) of Greater Trail, B.C., has created a small-scale version of that opportunity for students in southeastern B.C.'s Columbia Basin, based on the CBC model.

CFDC’s first Junior Dragons’ Den (JDD) was held in Trail in 2014. After a second successful production there in May of this year, CFDC offices in Cranbrook and Revelstoke became interested in offering the competition in their communities, so in April of 2016, Junior Dragons’ Den presentations will be held in all three cities.

“It’s gone from one (annual) show to three regional shows and a championship,” said John Reed, youth services co-ordinator for Community Futures.

“Our BHAG or big, hairy, audacious goal when we started was to take this national, and we’re moving in that direction,” said Don Freschi, general manager of CFDC of Greater Trail. “There are lots of other youth initiatives out there, but we’re the only Junior Dragons’ Den in Canada.”

To qualify

The competition’s junior level is for students in grades eight to 10, and the senior level includes grades 11 and 12. The college and university/trade school level is open to grads from the Kootenay region who are at colleges within or outside the region, and there’s no age cap.

To qualify for the competition, students must submit a business concept for starting or improving their business, and the short-listed applicants will be matched with local business mentors to develop a one-page business plan and a short pitch video.

“Everybody plays by the same rules and follows the same format,” said Reed. “We go and produce those shows and each show will have a script, a schedule, a couple of rehearsals and a professional MC.”

Show time

The show-day format will include presentations by the competitors before a panel of local business owners acting as judges, followed by audience voting. The audience vote will count for 20 per cent of the final marks and the the judges’ marks will make up 80 per cent of the scores.

“It’s super exciting and great engagement for the audience,” Reed said.

When all of the presentations have been voted on and the marks have been tallied, the winners will be announced, right then and there. The first-, second- and third-place winners in each of the three categories will receive cash and prizes, and the money must be spent on continuing education, business launch or business expansion.

The winners from Revelstoke, Cranbrook and Trail will then compete at a grand finale at the Charles Bailey Theatre in Trail, where the selection process will be repeated and a second pot of cash and prizes will be awarded.

Not just another school project

Ordinarily, it’s not easy to stimulate enthusiasm and support for student projects. However, in the case of JDD, the projects are the students’ very own dreams, and that makes all the difference—and the fact that the Dragons’ Den TV series is popular in Canada certainly helps.

As well as a stimulus for support from the families of the competitors and the business community, the JDD project is proven to be a career launch pad.

“A classic example is Jordan Strobel and Tim Baldwin and their success with Ebon Supply Company,” said Reed. “They had expansion plans that they submitted, and Ebon won the senior category in the first competition.”

CFDC has 34 offices in B.C. and more than 300 across Canada, and Reed said the company is looking at going provincial with the competition in 2017. Young dragons may soon be taking flight all across the country.