The Simon Fraser University Student Entrepreneur of the Year is Matias Marquez, founder of Buyatab.com.
The company processes online gift cards and has many clients throughout North America, including the Keg Steakhouse, Boston Pizza and Swiss Chalet, Marquez said in an SFU press release.
Marquez's win was announced on Nov. 19 at the fourth annual Student Entrepreneur of the Year reception.
Arvand Alviri, founder of VenueWize, took second place with his internet and mobile phone-based application for event organizers.
Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Simon Fraser organized the event.
STUDENTS ENTER THE LIONS LAIR
British Columbia Institute of Technology business students are holding their annual Lions Lair showcase on Dec. 7.
The event is patterned after the TV series The Dragon's Den, according to an email from the SIFE BCIT president, Lindsay Noyes.
SIFE is an international non-profit organization that gives post-secondary business students the opportunity to help their communities with their skills.
The Lions Lair project is intended "to help aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses develop professional business plans," according to Noyes. "Through a series of free interactive business workshops, Lion's Lair student volunteers provide mentorship to individuals with visions of creating a sustainable business."
Participants pitch and present their business plans to the judges at the event, she added.
Judges include: Robin Hemmingsen, the BCIT dean of business; Rick Crutch, head of the entrepreneurship program; and Brian Giffen, an instructor with the program.
The winner of the competition receives money to go towards implementing the business plan, according to Noyes, who said that last year the winner received $2,500.
The Lions Lair event is taking place at BCIT's Burnaby campus in town square A and B on Wednesday, Dec. 7 from 7 to 10 p.m.
DREAMING OF A GREEN CHRISTMAS
The Evergrow Live Tree Rentals Co. is taking orders for this Christmas on its website.
The company rents out potted, live trees to corporate and residential customers.
Clients order the tree online, and Evergrow drops the tree off before Christmas and picks it up afterwards.
The cost includes pickup, delivery and maintenance of the trees throughout the year.
Evergrow also sells cut trees over seven feet tall, as potted trees can only remain healthy up to seven feet.
The cut trees are turned into biofuel after Christmas, heating greenhouses in Langley.
The company also sells wooden decorations made from salvaged Lodgepole pine wood killed by the Mountain Pine Beetle.
The ornaments are made by the Tradeworks Training Society, which provides training and entry-level employment to women in the Downtown Eastside.
Evergrow was profiled in the Burnaby NOW last December. For more information, go to evergrow christmastrees.ca
LAFF RIOT GIRLS IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT
The Laff Riot Girls are preparing for the holidays with charitable spirit intact, according to comic Ardell Fitzpatrick-Brophy.
Fitzpatrick-Brophy informed the NOW of the group's charitable plans in response to an open request to Burnaby businesses on Facebook.
The comedy group had a fundraiser for the Burnaby Fellowship Centre on Nov. 19, and Fitzpatrick-Brophy and fellow comedian Lee Ann Keple MCed the Chicks with Picks Holiday Show at the Railway Club in Vancouver on Dec. 4.
Funds and goods from the event went to the Positive Women's Network, Fitzpatrick-Brophy said in an email.
On Christmas Day, Fitzpatrick-Brophy, Keple and Karin Cirez will be serving a hot dinner at the Burnaby Fellowship Centre, she added.
"We have been helping to arrange this dinner for the last seven years," Fitzpatrick-Brophy wrote. "I don't cook, but I help raise the funds for this event, and I can peel lots of potatoes."
FITNESS TOWN RAISES FUNDS
The Burnaby employees of Fitness Town have taken steps, literally, to help sick kids in the province.
A team from the fitness equipment company's Burnaby location hiked the Grouse Grind every Saturday during the summer to raise money for the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation's Grind for Kids initiative.
The Summit Seekers raised $3,445 for the foundation.
In total, the Grind for Kids fundraiser brought in $130,000 for the hospital through pledges this year.
Send Movers & Shakers ideas to Janaya, jfuller-evans @burnabynow.com.
