A local business has made聽$11,000 in gross profit off of Estevan's sweet tooth, while also聽making noise at the聽Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame Awards banquet in Regina.聽
Estevan Comprehensive School鈥檚 entrepreneur class won the Most Improved聽Company聽Award at this year's banquet after a strong finish to the semester, despite聽the setbacks they had during the initial planning stages of their company.聽
"This group had a little bit of trouble getting started at first," said Josh LeBlanc,聽the business class teacher聽overseeing the student-driven business, which this year, decided to sell eatable cookie dough available in three聽flavours.聽
LeBlanc noted some troubles establishing a creative business plan that ultimately set them back about a month. He said this setback was noted in the report he submitted to聽the Junior Achievement selection committee, in addition to the dedication his students showed once they began selling their product.聽
"They did everything they had to in order to be successful," LeBlanc聽said.聽
Hailey聽Dukart, president of Treat Yourself, said the award accurately reflected their company's progress.聽
"We were pretty happy to get that award because we did improve a lot this semester,"聽Dukart聽said.聽
An individual award was won by Treat聽Yourself's聽vice president of information and online sales, Robert Godfrey, who took home the IT Excellence Award, which recognizes a student's contributions to their company's online identity.聽
"It was important to have a strong online presence," Godfrey said, adding聽they聽tapped into聽various social media apps, like Facebook and Twitter, to connect further with members of the community.聽
Dukart聽and Godfrey expressed excitement within the banquet's bustling atmosphere.聽
"It was really exciting, and it was just great meeting the other companies,"聽Dukart聽said.聽
The experience and business savvy gained through Treat Yourself聽has聽piqued the interests of聽Dukart聽and Godfrey, who said they are strongly considering to pursue a career in business.聽
"Simply having this experience is great," Godfrey said.聽
The school year is nearing an end, but聽Dukart聽said Treat Yourself continues to sell what's left of its product before the end of the school year.聽She also said they do delivieries.
LeBlanc said he continues to be impressed by his students' achievements and thanked the community for its support of the program.聽
He noted how important Junior Achievement is to southern Saskatchewan.聽
"There's a huge push for us to聽bring the business and business literacy component into schools," he said, adding the program not only teaches students about business, but provides them with valuable resources they can turn to outside of school. "Junior Achievement is trying hard to fill that gap."
