The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur: the Canadian Forces to small business transition program

Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities for the Canadian Forces

May 16, 2012 – Toronto, ON – The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is pleased to be working with the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter at Memorial University in Newfoundland to help Canadian Forces members transition to civilian life by launching and sustaining successful businesses.

Uniquely Canadian, The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur is an exclusive national program for transitioning or transitioned Canadian Forces members interested in becoming entrepreneurs. It offers them entrepreneurial education and business planning support, access to start-up and growth financing, specialized business mentoring, the opportunity to attend entrepreneurship boot camp and networking and community support.

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). The program was created and built upon the foundation of the CYBF’s 16 years of experience in mentoring and financing new entrepreneurs and the “Based in Business” educational boot camp offered by SIFE Memorial.

“The men and women who have served as part of the Canadian Forces have shown tireless dedication to our country. With The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur, we have collaborated with outstanding organizations in order to provide these individuals the tools they need to create a successful business.” explains Vivian Prokop, CEO, CYBF. “Through this important initiative, CYBF continues its long standing relationship with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, as the Canadian member of the Prince’s Youth Business International.”

During the Canadian Royal Tour for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, will meet with military personnel enrolled in The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur program on Monday, May 21, 2012 at the Canadian Forces Base in Gagetown, New Brunswick. Their Royal Highnesses will learn first-hand from service personnel and delivery partners how The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur program enables transitioning and transitioned service personnel to start and grow their own businesses.

“The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur is about giving options to those who’ve served their country,” says Amanda Sherrington, President and CEO of Prince’s Charities Canada. “This program is a continuation of The Prince of Wales’s ongoing commitment to the Canadian Forces.”

“That Prince’s Charities Canada has chosen Based in Business as component of the model for its own program is recognition of the acumen and outstanding work of SIFE Memorial students,” said Dr. Wilfred Zerbe, Dean, Faculty of Business Administration at Memorial University. “With the support of Memorial faculty members and the business community, they have made Based in Business an entrepreneurship development program to emulate and their ingenuity will now help transitioning military personnel across the country.”

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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.

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.

CYBF: For more information, contact:
Nicolee Tattersall, Manager, Media Relations
Canadian Youth Business Foundation
Office: 416.408.2923 ext. 2208
Cell: 647.405.2923
ntattersall@cybf.ca

SIFE Memorial: For more information, contact:
Moira Finn, Communication Coordinator
Faculty of Business Administration
Memorial University
709.864.2616
mfinn@mun.ca

Prince’s Charities Canada:  For more information, contact:
Matthew J. Rowe, Communications Coordinator
Prince’s Charities Canada
416-967-2940
matthew.rowe@princescharities.ca