The Québec Entrepreneurship Contest pays tribute to its prizewinners at the 17th Desjardins Grand Prize Gala

QUÉBEC CITY, June 18, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - The provincial prizewinners in the Student Entrepreneurship and Business Creation divisions of the 17th Québec Entrepreneurship Contest were announced today to great fanfare at the Palais Montcalm in Québec City. Hosted by Honorary President Dominique Brown, CEO of Chocolats Favoris, this major event will take place in the presence of Sam Hamad, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity and Gilles Bernard, Vice-President, Marketing, Performance and Innovation, Business and Institutional Services, Desjardins Group, the presenting partner for the event. The Desjardins Grand Prize Gala, which welcomed some 600 guests inspired by the energy, enthusiasm and courage of the finalists in Québec's 17 regions, who represent a diverse and dynamic new generation of business leaders.

During the evening, the Contest's partners handed out 32 prizes worth a total of $195 000. This was in addition to the $500 000 already awarded at the local and regional finals in this 17th edition of the Contest, which attracted some 45 000 participants, a truly impressive number. For President and Director General, Manon Théberge, "The Contest is a source of considerable pride that draws on the resources of the education, economic and social systems. By pooling our efforts, we make it possible for our young entrepreneurs to showcase their initiative, as they have this evening, and, at the same time, inspire an increasing number of people to believe in themselves and achieve fulfilment as active members of the community."

"I believe that entrepreneurship is a cornerstone of a robust, prosperous society. Québec needs its entrepreneurs, especially young ones, who boldly forge ahead in the business community with their eyes on the future," Minister Sam Hamad noted. "That is why it is important for the Québec government to support entrepreneurship, specifically among young people."

Inspiring people, projects and initiatives!
Attached is a list of the provincial prizewinners, who have stood out from all the other finalists in Québec's 17 regions. We suggest that you also see our e-booklet (in French only) featuring our 2015 finalists at all levels, (available June, 19).

About the QEC
Our mission is to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship in order to help build a Québec that is proud, innovative, committed and prosperous. This is made possible with the financial support of such visionary organizations as Desjardins Group and the Québec government (respectively, our presenting and chief partners), the Ministère de l'Éducation, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche; the Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et des Exportations; the Secrétariat à la jeunesse; the Secrétariat à la condition féminine; the newspaper Les Affaires; Vidéotron Business Solutions the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Gaz Métro, the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec (CPA), Saputo and Ingenio, a subsidiary of Loto-Québec.

APPENDIX

BUSINESS CREATION DIVISION

Guided and encouraged by stakeholders in their regions, 2 000 entrepreneurs submitted some 1 200 projects to the Contest. Whether or not contestants made it through the local and regional levels or advanced to the finals, all learned something from the juries. Our courageous and persistent prizewinners are making a difference by contributing to the development of their regions and serving as models for others.

Category: Agri-food, presented by SAPUTO 

• First prize, provincial level: PASSION CARAÏBE (Laurentides)
• Second prize, provincial level: LES BOISSONS VYTAVY INC. (Chaudière-Appalaches)

Category: Commerce

• First prize, provincial level: CHIC MARIE INC. (Montérégie)
• Second prize, provincial level: TAILLEUR NATHON KONG INC. (Montréal)

Category: Social Economy, presented by the Caisse d'économie solidaire Desjardins

• First prize, provincial level: CORPORATION EAU GRAND AIR (Côte-Nord)
• Second prize, provincial level: LIBRAIRIE CARPE DIEM, COOPÉRATIVE DE SOLIDARITÉ (Laurentides)

Category: Business Operation, Processing, Production, presented by Gaz Métro

• First prize, provincial level: VISCERAL PERFORMANCE INC. (Montréal)
• Second prize, provincial level: CÈDART-TECH INC. (Mauricie)

Category: Technological and Technical Innovation, presented by Vidéotron Business Solutions

• First prize, provincial level: BIOINTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGIES INC. (Estrie)
• Second prize, provincial level: REVOL TECHNOLOGIES INC. (Montréal)

Category: Services to Companies, presented by the Ordre des CPA du Québec

• First prize, provincial level: EXO TACTIK (Laval)
• Second prize, provincial level: CONSULTANTS FAÇADES PLUS (Laval)

Category: Services to Individuals, presented by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

• First prize, provincial level: NEURO-CONCEPT (Montréal)
• Second prize, provincial level: location de véhicules eeko logiques inc. (Montréal)

Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge Grand Prize, in partnership with the Secrétariat à la jeunesse

• STEFANKA LINGERIE (Montréal)

Successful Business Inc. Prize, in partnership with the Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et des Exportations 

• KEFIPLANT (Centre-du-Québec)

Entrepreneuriat féminin Jury's Favourite Prize, in partnership with the Secrétariat à la condition féminine

• Elizabeth Stefanka, Stefanka Lingerie (Montréal)

Ingéniosité Jury's Favourite Prize – Ingenio, a subsidiary of Loto-Québec

• REVOL TECHNOLOGIES INC. (Montréal)

APPENDIX

STUDENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP DIVISION

Some 43 000 young people representing all grade levels in Québec's educational institutions, from elementary school to university, took part in 2 200 projects that enabled them to enjoy a truly unique entrepreneurial experience. Guided and encouraged by committed school staff, they successfully made it through the local, regional and provincial levels. The prizewinners were involved in projects that bolstered their self-confidence, afforded them pleasant learning opportunities and yielded great results!

Provincial prize – Category: Elementary Cycle One (Elementary 1 and 2) 

• LE POTAGER DES PETITS DRAGONS (Chaudière-Appalaches)

Provincial prize – Category: Elementary Cycle Two (Elementary 3 and 4)

• ATOUTS CŒUR (Capitale-Nationale)

Provincial prize – Category: Elementary Cycle Three (Elementary 5 and 6) 

• SIMPLEMENT BON (Mauricie)

Provincial prize – Category: Secondary Cycle One (Secondary I and II) 

• MINI-PUTTS PLUS (Montréal)

Provincial prize – Category: Secondary Cycle Two (Secondary III, IV and V)
Jury's Favourite Prize - Fondation pour l'éducation à la coopération et à la mutualité 

• LA FABRIQUE VIDÉO (Estrie)

Provincial prize – Category: Secondary School – Special Education

• ORDIMOTEUR (Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine)

Provincial prize – Category: Vocational Training and Adult Education 

• LE BONHOMME CARNAVAL RIT JAUNE (Chaudière-Appalaches)

Provincial prize – Category: College (individual and small group) 

• PARC À CHIENS - La Pocatière (Bas-Saint-Laurent)

Provincial prize – Category: College (group) 

• LA TABLE FORESTIÈRE (Bas-Saint-Laurent)

Provincial prize – Category: University (individual and small group) 

• APPLY EDU (Estrie)

Provincial prize – Category: University (group) 

• AGROCITÉ (Capitale-Nationale)

REGIONAL COMMITMENT PRIZE – Fonds locaux de solidarité FTQ and Fédération québécoise des municipalités
CAPITALE-NATIONALE REGION

PEOPLE'S CHOICE PRIZE – Gaz Métro, powered by Videotron Business Solutions
The prizewinner was identified in the course of the evening. More information is available on the Contest's Web site at http://www.concours-entrepreneur.org/en.

SOURCE Concours québécois en entrepreneuriat

For further information: Éric Darveau, [e-mail] 581-307-2917