Durham College and partners launch FastStart program

 

Oshawa, Ont. – Durham College (DC), in conjunction with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Fleming College and Trent University shared today that the four organizations are working with Spark Centre and the Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster (GPIC) to launch the FastStart program (FastStart), a powerful new resource designed to help university and college students acquire entrepreneurial skills and convert innovative business ideas into successful companies.

 

FastStart is an entrepreneurial training partnership designed to increase the entrepreneurship skills and awareness of university and college students and help them develop solid business plans and take products to market. It is being funded through an $800,000 Government of Ontario grant being shared equally among all four post-secondary institutions under the province’s $ 5 million On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (OCEA) program, managed by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE).

 

“Fostering the entrepreneurial spirit among students is a key component of Ontario’s Youth Jobs Strategy, through programs that help transfer their ideas and skills to the marketplace while creating rewarding careers,” said Reza Moridi, Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation, and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. “By partnering with colleges and universities to support entrepreneurship, we are ensuring our province’s business leaders of tomorrow are getting the support they need to succeed today.”

 

FastStart, designed to leverage existing synergies, educational approaches and the student needs of each university and college in their respective geographic market, reflects the commitment of the six partnering institutions to offer a program that enables students to apply what they learn to their future careers, whether they are in start ups, established businesses, social innovation or public service.

 

FastStart features include:

• Available to students at all four institutions, in all fields of study, including youth in the community with an entrepreneurial spirit.
• Customized services to help participants refine their ideas, build teams and prepare solid business plans to deliver products to market.
• Programs such as boot camps and student incubators.
• Progressive, more focused programs to students with demonstrated interest and ability.
• Opportunities for students to transition through FastStart to the Spark Centre, GPIC or local business access development centres where they can access additional services to help them quickly advance and launch their businesses.

The OCEA program is part of Ontario’s Youth Jobs Strategy, which is seeing the province invest $295 million over two years to help 30,000 more youth from across the province connect with the tools, experiences and entrepreneurial support they need to find employment or start their own businesses. “Ontario Centres of Excellence is pleased to be able to deliver this project as a trusted partner of the Government of Ontario,” said Dr. Tom Corr, president and chief executive officer, OCE. “I look forward to putting our years of experience in connecting academia and industry, and our ongoing support of young entrepreneurs to good use in making this initiative a tremendous success.” Funded by the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) is Ontario’s innovation system. The ONE is made up of regional and sector focused organizations designed to help Ontario-based entrepreneurs rapidly grow their companies, and create jobs.

For more information visit www.oneinnovation.ca. 

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At Durham College, the student experience comes first. In September 2014, the college welcomed more than 30,000 students to campus including more than 11,000 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students as well as part-time and continuing education students and online learners. The college offers a wide range of market-driven programs in a number of different disciplines including culinary, hospitality, tourism, horticulture, business, information technology, media, art, design, general arts, science, skilled trades, justice, emergency services, health and engineering technology, enabling students to develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market. 

A three-phase expansion of the college’s Whitby campus was completed in 2013 when the 36,000-square-foot Centre for Food opened on the northwest corner of campus. Accommodating approximately 900 additional students studying in culinary, hospitality, event management, food science, and agricultural and horticultural programs, the CFF features Bistro ’67, a new, 70-seat, full-service, green-certified teaching-inspired restaurant and Pantry, a retail store featuring fresh-baked items, meals-to-go, preserved foods and ready-to-cook meals created by students in the college’s culinary programs.

 

For more information, please visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905.721.2000. For FastStart at Durham please visit: durhamcollege.ca/faststart and follow on Twitter: @FastStartDC

Media contact:

Lisa Power
Durham College
905.721.2000 ext. 2952 
lisa.power@durhamcollege.ca