Stephenville -
Felicia Hefferan is now thinking of possibly becoming an entrepreneur.
The Level 3 student at Stephenville High School was honoured on Tuesday as winner of the 2009 "Getting the Message Out" competition.
The Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development used her school on Tuesday to launch the fifth edition of the Getting the Message Out classroom kit and 2010 Getting the Message Out study competition.
"For more than 15 years, our Getting the Message Out program has been an important tool for creating awareness of some of the brightest and most passionate entrepreneurs to students, educators, community organizations, and industry groups," Shawn Skinner, minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, said in a release.
The program highlights the stories of people in Newfoundland and Labrador whose ingenuity and determination turned their dreams of entrepreneurship into reality.
Every presentation is customized to reflect regional differences and highlight sectors exploding with opportunity.
Joan Burke, member of the House of Assembly for St. Georges-Stephenville East, made the announcement of the new classroom kit and case study competition on behalf of Skinner.
Hefferan researched local entrepreneur Brad Callahan, who has a number of businesses in Stephenville including a cinema, a mall and a number of night clubs among other enterprises, and wrote her winning case study on him.
"I spent a couple of months working on the project and was surprised when I learned I was the provincial winner," she said.
Her plan after completing school this year is to take a hairstyling course at College of the North Atlantic.
"I've always been interested in hairstyling and maybe running a business in it down the road could happen," Hefferan said.
Odelia Caul, her sponsoring teacher in career education for Hefferan's case study, believes the Getting the Message Out program provides a good opportunity for students, especially since they can see their hard work paying off, that success is attainable in business and starting an enterprise is not out of reach for them.
She said Hefferan's example of entrepreneur Callahan demonstrates someone who grew up in a difficult economic environment to move on and become a very successful businessperson.
Caul said Callahan gives back to the community by expanding his business base and continually hiring more people and Hefferan is gaining as well, because Callahan has hired her for a parttime job working at teenage dances.
For her efforts, Hefferan was presented a laptop computer and an iPod Touch along with having her winning case study featured in the new Getting the Message Out classroom kit, while Caul and her school each received a new computer.
Skinner said Getting the Message Out plays an active role in supporting youth innovation and entrepreneurship. A supplementary resource guide - the Getting the Message Out classroom kit - is produced for the high school economic education courses Enterprise 3205 and Career Development 2201.
The guide features case studies of local businesses, showcasing the enterprising spirit in Newfoundland and Labrador.
