“What’s the big idea?” — Carberry edition

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This article was published 02/11/2017 (3103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CARBERRY — Each entrepreneur who opens a business can recall the ‘light bulb’ moment when they realized their idea was worth something.

In Morghan Wark’s mind, it was when she had six women in her kitchen, making chokecherry jam.

Brenda Dote recalls spotting few decorations at a one-year-old birthday’s party when she realized she could make a job of sprucing other people’s soirees.

For Amy Spring, it was when she learned she could teach from tourist haunts, turning her classroom into something new.

Each of those budding entrepreneurs was endorsed at a Dragon’s Den-inspired event, where they pitched their ideas and a number of them walked away with spending capital.

This was the third year for ‘What’s the Big Idea?’ sponsored by the economic development offices of Minnedosa, Neepawa and Carberry as well as surrounding municipalities, explained Chantelle Parrott, economic development officer for Minnedosa Area Community Development Corporation.

“There’s nothing else, at least in Manitoba, that I know of where this has happened in this kind of format,” she said.

Seven entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas at the Oct. 20 event.

Recognition for best overall idea was handed to Special FX Productions, a video production company owned by Shay McLenehan of Minnedosa. They specialize in small market filming, video editing and social media management.

Inspired by the reaction to a video he produced for Minnedosa’s Skate the Lake, the recent graduate from Assiniboine Community College’s Interactive Media Arts program hopes to help small-town businesses seeking an online video presence.

He already had five businesses on board before purchasing all his equipment. A combined cash prize of $1,450 from ‘What’s the Big Idea?’ will set him down that path, he said.

“It means that we found a sweet spot in the community, in western Manitoba, that not only helps us out but helps out other businesses wanting exposure,” McLenehan said.

Other winners included Wark, who runs GunnySack Acres near Minnedosa. She sells her own produce at local farmers markets, but has ambitions to expand into a subscription-based food service and deliver cooking workshops.

The idea was hatched when a friend brought five other women to Wark’s home to make jam.

“I ended up with six females in my kitchen with a couple of bottles of wine and I just taught them to make chokecherry jelly and then the light bulb went off, and I thought I needed to go this route,” she said.

In addition to the workshops, she hopes to have a couple families on board buying a subscription to the veggies she grows, where they’d receive regular packages of fresh produce.

Dote received $1,000 for her Neepawa-based enterprise called Dream Parties by Brenda.

In nearly seven months of operation, she’s dressed up halls and basements for elaborate birthday celebrations, ranging from a princess-themed affair, covering tables, chairs and streamers in shades of pink, to a boy’s birthday bash inspired by the movie Cars.

“I love to decorate,” said Dote, a native of the Philippines who moved to Canada three years ago with her family. “We just bought this house, it’s a cheap house, but now it’s beautiful because I do the landscaping, the decorating.”

Dote is looking to expand into the weddings business after decorating two nuptials in her first half-year in business.

One of the day’s biggest winners was Amy Spring, a former teacher developing a burgeoning travel brand that’ll specialize in experimental tourism.

She won nearly $3,000.

“Walking through Marilyn (Crewe, Neepawa economic development officer)’s doors was the best thing I’ve ever did, it led me to here,” she said. “It gave me the confidence to move forward.”

The former teacher has started Fueled by Adventures, which combines photography workshops, a travel blog and guided tours.

Down the line she hopes to host tours and have companies sponsor her blog posts from the destinations she visits.

Spring is planning a trip to Hawaii in December and will spend this month blogging about it. The content will help her gain credibility in the tourism sector as she tries to make Fueled by Adventures a trustworthy brand adventure seekers rely on.

Other entrepreneurs who pitched their ideas include Ryan McKay, who opened a permanent hair removal clinic this year in Minnedosa, Emma Denton who designs custom bras and Percy Philips of Portage la Prairie who is behind an effort to grow quinoa.

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