Business mentorship program awards young entrepreneurs at award ceremony

By David Yin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

The Markham Small Business Centre celebrated 13 student entrepreneurs through a showcase and awards ceremony at the end of its Summer Company program on Aug. 21.

The Summer Company program provides students aged 15 to 29 years old mentorship, training, and up to $3,000 in funding to start their own business over the summer.

Successful businesses from the 2025 program include Summer Smiles Swim School; Reversely; Urban District; YouthMelodies Music Academy; KJ Art Studios; Straloe; Catch ‘Em Crate; Soaps, Flowers, and Charcuteries by Naz; Ummah Basketball Association; Memoleaf; Popmelo Slimes; Ataraxia; and Mastermind Math Tutoring.

The showcase occurred from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. All participants gathered in the council chamber for the awards ceremony, followed by an end-of-ceremony tradeshow where they learned about each business.

Serena Tang, small business advisor, hosted the awards ceremony.

Regional Councillor Alan Ho provided some opening remarks, followed by a description of the program.

Afterwards, Tang called out each student to receive their certificates from Ho at the centre of the chamber.

Wiz Robotics also appeared at the ceremony. Founder Jack Zhou presented a speech about his company before announcing 18 award recipients from his robotics teams.

Wiz Robotics participated in the centre’s Starter Company Plus program in the past, which is geared towards non-student entrepreneurs.

Tiffany Mak, manager of the Markham Small Business Centre, described how the centre manages its Summer Company program.

Each student fills out a business plan and financial plan template as part of the application process. Then, the centre consults with each applicant to revise their plans before deciding whether to accept them into the program.

The selected participants learn about business fundamentals through two training sessions before starting their businesses. They attend regular checkpoints, such as meetings with an assigned business mentor, as they run their businesses.

Mak said that one of her favourite aspects of managing the Summer Company program is watching the students grow within only a few months.

“It’s always impressive to see that they can absorb all this information and just put it into practice, and to actually see some of them who do end up making money, it’s really exciting and rewarding,” she said.

Chad Cameron, owner of Summer Smiles Swim School, recalled having a positive experience throughout this year’s program.

“They gave me the idea of social media ads where you can target it to your own demographic,” he said. “So, for me, that would be parents and guardians with kids around that younger age within my area.”

Cameron added that he would recommend the program to any student wanting to join.

“At first, it might seem like a big commitment, but really it’s such a big help to any business owner, especially at my age,” he said.

To learn more about the Markham Summer Company program, head to markhambusiness.ca/helping-businesses/small-business-grants/summer-company.

Photo: Student entrepreneurs showcase their summer businesses to various attendees during the tradeshow at the end of the awards ceremony. (David Yin photo)