News Article

Two teams from College of the North Atlantic (CNA) travelled to Vancouver, BC last month to face off against the 61 best Enactus teams in the country at the 2017 Enactus National Exposition.
 
The Enactus CNA’s St. John’s team returned home with three awards. The first, the Genworth Financial Group partnership project award, recognizes the efforts of Enactus CNA St.  John’s for its Independent YOU project, a financial literacy program delivered to high school students that focuses mostly on students living in rural Newfoundland. This year the project was delivered to 194 students at 21 secondary schools.
 
The Grand Falls-Windsor team of five students and one faculty advisor also had an impressive competition, placing first runner up behind the defending world champions from Memorial University (MUN).
 
Each year the national exposition brings together student, academic and industry leaders from across the country to celebrate the achievements of Canada’s future leaders and entrepreneurs. Through rounds of live, presentation-based competition, students showcase how their community outreach projects and business ventures enable progress through entrepreneurial action.
 
Competing against university teams from Ryerson, McGill, Carleton, Waterloo and U.N.B. in the opening round of competition, Enactus CNA St. John’s won the Runner Up Award. This award recognizes the team as one of the top 30 Enactus teams in Canada.
 
Enactus CNA St. John’s team member Tracy Carberry also took home an individual award. Carberry, who is a second year Business Management student at Prince Philip Drive campus, was awarded a Founder’s Bursary by Enactus Canada. The award is funded by The John Dobson Foundation and named for the founder of Enactus Canada, Ian Aitken. The Founder’s Bursary Program awards a total of $25,000 to outstanding students for their contributions to their Enactus program.
 
“Enactus has provided me with opportunities to gain experience, develop skills, and be a part of something much bigger then I could ever image. It's a community of leaders that I am proud to be forever connected to,” Carberry said. 
 
“The Enactus National Exposition was an experience that opened my eyes to the amazing things that other teams are doing across our country to improve our communities. It has allowed me to learn and grow as an individual as well as a team leader. The connections I have made and the skills I have learned will follow me throughout my career.”
 
Members of the St. John’s team included Carberry, who is from Monroe, Susie Butler from Goulds, Kassandra Sharon from Botwood, Morgan Knee from Corner Brook, Melissa Blanchard from Gilliams, and faculty advisor Dwight Hutchens.
 
The Grand Falls-Windsor team was also excited with the outcome of this year’s competition and how they presented themselves on the national stage.
 
“It was an absolutely incredible experience for our students and one they will not soon forget. Our team represented our college as an amazing place to study – they were professional, enthusiastic, and they were shining examples of the type of students we produce from our business program here at CNA,” said Joan Pynn, campus director in Grand Falls-Windsor.
 
“Our students were in a challenging division as it included the team from Memorial University, the defending world champions. MUN ended up winning the National Championship and our Grand Falls-Windsor team came runner up in that division – an amazing accomplishment! They did such a great job. Their presentation was flawless, they did exactly what they were supposed to do and I couldn’t have asked for them to do anything better. I am very proud to say they are students of the Business program at Grand Falls-Windsor campus.”
 
The Grand Falls-Windsor team was made up of Ira Parmenter of Gander, Jeremy Keefe of Lewisporte, Angie Brown of Botwood, Codylynn Smith and Crystal Ford of Grand Falls-Windsor, and advisor Joan Pynn.
 
“Being part of an Enactus group does so much for our students – they learn lots in our classrooms but being part of Enactus allows them to put the theory into practice,” Pynn said. “It gives them the opportunity to develop presentation and networking skills that they will take with them wherever they choose to work. I cannot emphasize enough how much participation in such things as Enactus and the Business Case Competition enhances the education we provide our students.”
 
For more information about the Business programs at CNA, visit www.cna.nl.ca.