Thousands of TELUS small business customers are going to help foster the next generation of entrepreneurs, just by picking up a new smartphone for their own work.
The Canadian telco announced today that every phone sale on a TELUS Small Business SharePlus Plan will automatically send $50 to the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF). The donations will directly support Canada’s emerging young businesspeople through the Foundation’s Entrepreneurs-In-Residence (EIR) mentoring and training program.
“One of the key factors in the success of CYBF entrepreneurs is the strength of our mentoring program, including the Entrepreneur-in-Residence role,” said CYBF’s Julia Deans. “The partnership between CYBF and TELUS ensures that a new generation of Canadian entrepreneurs has access to resources personalized to their development needs at the very early and most critical stage of their businesses.”
The EIR program offers young entrepreneurs personal coaching as well as face-to-face and virtual classes while they work towards launching a new business and in the early stages of launching that business. The program “directly helps entrepreneurs determine their best target market and what costs should be included in their business plan, which is vital for success.”
“This unique program is TELUS’ way of thanking our small business customers for doing business with TELUS, while supporting the important work the Foundation does to build a more entrepreneurial Canada,” said TELUS’ Jim Senko. “TELUS is a strong supporter of small business and through this initiative we are helping young entrepreneurs develop the tools they need to build successful businesses.”
Since 2012, CYBF and TELUS have enjoyed a partnership committed to helping young entrepreneurs succeed. As part of the commitment, TELUS has donated $28,000 to CYBF already this year, $100 for every person who attended a TELUS Challenge event, a year-long event series supporting small businesses with speakers and information to help them successfully tackle their business challenges. TELUS will donate up to another $122,000 through the smartphone program for a total of $150,000 this year.
To date, CYBF has invested in more than 5,260 young entrepreneurs, whose businesses have created more than 20,800 new jobs.