Ottawa, ON – Wednesday October 21, 2009 – OCRI is pleased to announce that the highly-regarded Junior Achievement (JA) program will be offered in Ottawa by OCRI’s Entrepreneurship Centre this fall. Junior Achievement and OCRI’s Entrepreneurship Centre have joined in a strategic partnership that will benefit all parties including the schools, teachers and students who participate in the various programs. OCRI is committed to providing valuable grass-roots programs that enable and encourage the development of our next generation of business leaders.
Junior Achievement fulfills a very important role in the business and entrepreneurial education ecosystem in Ottawa with approximately 10,000 students participating each year. “We are proud to have signed a licensing agreement with Junior Achievement Canada to deliver the entire realm of JA programs. The first to be offered is JA TITAN, an online business simulation program. We look forward to getting things back on track and providing Ottawa’s youth with access to programs that promote innovation and entrepreneurship.” explains Stephen Daze, Executive Director, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, OCRI.
OCRI is committed to ensuring that entrepreneurship is considered a viable career option by today’s young business minds and future industry leaders. There is a disconnect between the reality of the economic growth patterns witnessed in our business community and the development of business skills in our school systems. Of note, a recent Kauffman Foundation survey found that four of ten young people between the ages of eight and 21 would like to start their own business in the future. But, over the past several years, business and entrepreneurship classes in high schools have been eroded as a result of condensing the curriculum. In order to ensure sustained economic growth, OCRI firmly believes that innovation and entrepreneurship must be taught throughout a student’s academic career, beginning in the earliest grades, which is why programs such as those offered through Junior Achievement are so important to the community.
“Junior Achievement programs such as JA TITAN, Company Program and Economics for Success provide our youth with excellent learning opportunities,” said Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien. “We are so pleased that OCRI and Junior Achievement have partnered to offer these fantastic programs to Ottawa students and we look forward to a very successful JA outreach in the city.”
Currently, The OCRI Entrepreneurship Centre delivers a variety of youth entrepreneurship programs including TalentBridge, Summer Company, the High School Business Plan Competition and the Annual Youth Business Conference. By combining the JA programming with OCRI’s existing youth programs, its strong resource base, infrastructure and support, the result will be an integrated suite of youth entrepreneurship programming.
“Each year, Junior Achievement reaches more than 210,000 students in 400 communities across Canada and we count on many generous business volunteers to help deliver our programs,” says Ross W. Maund, President and CEO, JA Canada. “OCRI is an excellent community-based organization with a strong commitment to youth, entrepreneurship and innovation. We know that our programs are in good hands with OCRI’s Entrepreneurship Centre taking the lead and we look forward to a successful partnership.”
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About OCRI:
Leading the way for Ottawa, OCRI is the city’s economic development agency. OCRI is the rallying point to bring business, education, research and talent together to create the winning economic conditions that allow Ottawa’s knowledge-based companies to thrive locally and compete globally. At OCRI we promote sustainable economic development to maintain our high quality of life. For more information on OCRI visit our website at www.ocri.ca and for more information on the Ottawa Region please visit www.ottawaregion.com.
About JA Canada™ (Junior Achievement)
For over 50 years, Junior Achievement learning experiences have helped young Canadians discover financial literacy, entrepreneurial and work readiness skills so they can achieve their highest potential as citizens of our global community. Across Canada, Junior Achievement reaches over 210,000 students annually with 10,000 dedicated business volunteers in over 400 communities delivering a suite of eight national curriculum-matched programs. Since 1955, 2.5 million Canadian youth have participated in our business and entrepreneurial education programs free-of-charge.
Junior Achievement advocates business in the community, foster the entrepreneurial spirit by inspiring youth to start-up a company, create a career plan and make better financial decisions. Get involved and make life achievements possible for your future customers, employees and leaders. For more information, visit www.jacan.org.
For information contact:
Kim Cunningham
Manager, External Communications
OCRI
Office: (613) 828-6274 ext. 256
Cell: (613) 851-0768
kcunningham@ocri.ca
Stephen Ashworth
Vice President, Education
JA Canada™
Business: (416) 622-4602 ext. 227
sashworth@jacan.org
