April 15, 2013

Trades students at Medicine Hat College will benefit from a recent donation from the RBC Foundation.

The foundation has donated $25,000 to the Entrepreneur Development Centre at MHC, to develop a curriculum for use in a trades seminar series.

“Many of our students who receive trades training will go on to own their own business,” said Deanna Haysom, development officer at MHC. “The seminar series that we are developing, thanks to RBC, will enable
them to have the skills they need to be entrepreneurs in the trades.”

The donation from RBC has funded a curriculum designer, who has facilitated meetings with experts and is designing a small business/entrepreneurship curriculum that will have broad appeal to trades students. It is expected to be delivered during the course of 4-6 lunchtime meetings.

“There are very few trades-specific resources available for those wanting to start their own business,” said Jon Sookocheff, manager of MHC’s Entrepreneur Development Centre. “The process can be overwhelming. Our goal is to provide these students with a structured framework that will lead them to business ownership.”

The seminar series will likely focus on the start-up phase of business ownership and provide tailored expert advice. Further refining of the curriculum and implementation of the seminar series is still underway.

Haysom said that community partners like RBC are an important part of Medicine Hat College.

“Our donors help us reach out to students in new ways,” she said. “Their support enables us to continue offering innovative programming and start students on a path to success.”