Their Royal Highnesses Meet Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur Participants at CFB Gagetown

May 21 2012 – Oromocto, NB – Today, participants and partners in The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur (POE) met with The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown. The POE program provides ex-servicemen and women from the Canadian Forces with the education, financing and mentoring needed to launch and sustain successful businesses. The program combines the strengths of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation’s (CYBF) 15 years of mentoring and financing entrepreneurs with SIFE Memorial’s internationally recognized business boot camp for veterans.

“The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur is a continuation of His Royal Highness’ lifelong commitment to the Canadian Forces,” said Amanda Sherrington, President and CEO of Prince’s Charities Canada. “The Prince is extremely proud of this program and you could see that today in his interactions with participants.”

The father of two sons serving in the armed forces, The Prince of Wales first visited CFB Gagetown in the 1970s while on exercises with the Royal Navy. The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur program is supported by Prince’s Charities Canada, the Department of National Defence (DND), Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC), and Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE).

“It was an honour to be able to present the participants of the Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur to Their Royal Highnesses to ,” said Shane Skinner, incoming President SIFE Memorial University and co-manager Based in Business. “To be able to share this experience with successful graduates of the program, upcoming participants and their mentors is an experience I will never forget.”

“The entire team at PropertyGuys.com is pleased to be part of this Entrepreneurial initiative for Canadian military veterans. It was not only an honour to participate in the introductions to Their Royal Highnesses, it was exciting to be able to include one of our franchisees, Rick Davies, in a group discussion on what being part of a franchise network like ours is like with program participants,” said Ken LeBlanc, CEO PropertyGuys.com and POE mentor. “Rick is a great example of someone who puts his military background to good use as a franchise operator. We see great potential for this program to give us the opportunity to help more franchisees like Rick successfully transition their careers.”

For more information about The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur please visit www.cybf.ca/poe

Event participants from The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur are available for interview.

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Canadian Youth Business Foundation – Canada’s Entrepreneur Gateway
The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is the ‘go to’ place for youth entrepreneurship. As a national organization, we are dedicated to growing Canada’s economy one young entrepreneur at a time. We look at character not collateral, when providing youth, age 18-34, with pre-launch coaching, business resources, start-up financing and mentoring, to help them launch and sustain a successful entrepreneurial business. CYBF is the founder of G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit (G20 YES) and founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA). For more information, visit www.cybf.ca.

Memorial University’s Faculty of Business Administration
Memorial’s Faculty of Business Administration is recognized as a leader in Canadian business education, offering innovative programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including bachelor of commerce, international bachelor of business administration, bachelor of business administration, master of business administration, master of employment relations and PhD degrees. Research contributions by members of the faculty to top business journals rank first among universities in Atlantic Canada, influencing how and what students are taught. Graduates of Memorial’s business programs are well prepared to make decisions and run organizations locally, nationally and internationally.

Memorial is the first business school in Atlantic Canada to earn AACSB international accreditation, the highest distinction a business school anywhere in the world can receive. For more information, visit www.sifememorial.ca.

Prince’s Charities Canada
Prince’s Charities Canada (PCC) supports the Canadian charitable work of The Prince of Wales. The work of PCC is focused on The Prince of Wales’s core interests which have been well-established in the UK for more than 30 years. These include improving the lives of disadvantaged youth, education, responsible business, improving the built environment, regeneration of heritage and environmental sustainability. For more information, visit www.princescharities.ca.

Prince’s Charities Canada: For more information, contact:
Matthew J. Rowe, Communications Coordinator
Prince’s Charities Canada
Cell: 647-620-3487
matthew.rowe@princescharities.ca

CYBF: For more information, contact:
Nicolee Tattersall, Manager, Media Relations
Canadian Youth Business Foundation
Cell: 647.405.2923
ntattersall@cybf.ca