Young Entrepreneur Tradeshow on Dec. 7

Posted on November 28, 2024 by admin

By Heather Cameron
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The 2024 Young Entrepreneur Tradeshow will take place at the Raymond Ag Society Building, located at 98E Park S, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 7.

Shyanna Reimer, Administrative Assistant for the Raymond Chamber of Commerce, says that the tradeshow is the second part to the Chamber of Commerce’s Young Entrepreneur Training and Tradeshow program. Prior to the tradeshow, Reimer says, the Chamber of Commerce spends four to six weeks teaching entrepreneurs, who are aged 6-18, the basics of running a business. 

“The Tradeshow is designed as a platform for our participants to showcase their new businesses and get experience in interacting with the community in a professional manner,” said Reimer. “Last year saw around 200 people come to support our entrepreneurs. We hope to see similar numbers this year.”

The event, Reimer says, is a partnership between the Raymond Chamber of Commerce and the Raymond Public Library and will feature 14 booths run by program graduates while the remaining booths will be other young entrepreneurs from the area.

“The best way to participate is to show up and support our vendors,” said Reimer. “People will get to support new entrepreneurs. We have service, goods, and food businesses at this year’s show, so there is something for everyone. Every hour we will be doing a door prize draw, either for some spending money or for a gift. If someone is a young entrepreneur, the best way for them to participate is to reserve a table, which can be purchased at raymondchamber.ca.”

Reimer says that this event started back in 2023 when the Raymond Public Library was awarded a grant to start the Young Entrepreneur Training and Trade Show program. 

“At the time I was working for the Library and the Chamber and felt that it was a perfect partnership for this program, so we brought together a group of library staff members and Chamber board members and local businesses to teach our participants business basics,” said Reimer. 

“In our first year, we taught Business plans, Customer Service, Marketing and Budgeting, and Trade Shows. This year, we wanted to offer more to our graduates, so we added a week on Time Management and gave Marketing and Budgeting their own weeks. Our participants came to class every Tuesday and Thursday to learn and prepare for our Trade Show.”

Reimer says that the Raymond and District Chamber of Commerce had some entrepreneurs from 2023 return in 2024 and they have appreciated getting a refresher on certain topics but also enjoyed our new topics. The Raymond and District Chamber of Commerce, Reimer says, has also heard from our local businesses and parents that they are happy to see someone teaching youth how to interact with the world in a professional manner. 

“I know our entrepreneurs appreciate the trade show the most,” said Reimer. “They enjoy being able to share their business and their passions with the community. This event is a very exciting one to be a part of. One aspect of our mission as a chamber is to teach the next generation of leaders, and this is exactly that. Knowing that we are inspiring our youth to try something new and to put their ideas out there is amazing. Even if we don’t see these businesses grow and succeed, we are seeing these kids succeed and grow, and that’s what matters.”