On August 16, the Jeunes entrepreneurs de l'Île cooperative held a festive closing party to recognize the work accomplished by the young entrepreneurs and to thank the customers who called on the cooperative during the summer.

At the Bellevue Park location in Pincourt, employers, young entrepreneurs, parents and friends gathered to share their experiences of the summer season.

The evening was hosted by project coordinators Rose Paiement and Éléonaure Crête-Lépine, who introduced each of the young entrepreneurs individually and highlighted the main entrepreneurial characteristics that each had demonstrated and developed over the course of the year. 

A rewarding experience

In all, some 15 young entrepreneurs aged 13 to 17 took part in the 2023 summer cohort. 

Participants offered their diversified services at low prices, while setting up a cooperative decision-making structure and sharing the tasks and responsibilities involved in running their cooperative.

In terms of services, the budding entrepreneurs mainly provided lawn mowing, weeding and window washing.

Contracts were also awarded in partnership with participating towns. This was the case with the Town of Pincourt, for whom the youngsters sorted waste for the firefighters' festival and won a contract to clean the toilets. 

With the town of Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot, the youngsters were asked to supervise inflatable games for the Notre-Dame family festival. 

"As coordinator of the collective entrepreneurship initiation project, I had the chance to work alongside, train and support young people in an incredibly enriching experience for them, as well as for me. The young people were able to develop skills in the workplace, as well as the autonomy to run their own cooperative businesses. These are skills and knowledge that will be of real use to them in their future schooling and employment. I feel very fortunate to have been able to take part in this wonderful project," emphasizes Éléonaure Crête-Lépine, coordinator of the group entrepreneurship initiation project.

Les Jeunes entrepreneurs de l'Île - CIEC is sponsored by a local committee made up of representatives from Carrefour jeunesse-emploi, the recreation departments of the municipalities of L'Île-Perrot, Pincourt and Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot, Comité jeunesse la Presqu'Ile, Centre des services scolaires des Trois-Lacs, Caisse Desjardins de Vaudreuil-Soulanges and DEV Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

If you, or a young person you know, are interested in participating in the collective entrepreneurship initiation cooperative, or if you plan to entrust small jobs to the young entrepreneurs next summer, please write to the following e-mail address: [email protected].