Summer Company Launch 2024

On Thursday, June 27th, the Summer Company program held their 2024 launch at the Cornwall Civic Complex.

I attended this event with my assistant reporter Caleb, who later celebrated his first day of summer holiday with a LOVE Downtown Cornwall cookie from Tilly’s.

So far, seven young entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 and 29 are receiving support from the Summer Company program to open and run a business this summer. The Cornwall Business Enterprise Center also received grant funding for two additional spots in 2024 that are still open to applicants.

MP Eric Duncan and MPP Nolan Quinn were present to offer support and encouragement to program participants.

“This is a great program that’s been longstanding and run here in Cornwall, SDG, and Akwesasne for many years,” said MP Eric Duncan, “One of the best parts I like is keeping an eye on who has the businesses in a year, and then in a couple of years down the road. The number of people that have kept it as a part-time side business … and exciting to see the number of people who actually turn their business into a full-time multi-employee, and it was Summer Company that got them off the ground and provided the seed funding to get going.”

“The summer company program is very important,” MPP Nolan Quinn shared, “Me being a small business owner myself, its great seeing these kids with their vision. I’m part of a franchise but they’ve thought of a business from the ground up and I think that’s quite commendable.”

Summer Company businesses launching this year include Dolev Klein Harari’s lowKey Tech, Lillian Reid’s The Button Gallery, Abigail Rose’s Rose Arts & Graphics, Pascale Wabo Nana’s Pasrel’s Clean Services, Abdul Khan’s Ark’s Cards, Nicolle Delgado’s CultiveAide, and Fajr Shamshad Gondal’s Basketeria.

“I want to help the citizens of Cornwall bring technology to their businesses. For me that would include designing software, automating parts of their business, or giving them technological guidance on how they want to take their business to the next level,” said Dolev Klein Harari, the founder of LowKey Tech, “I do this stuff for fun, so having the extra support from Summer Company is just kind of like a bonus incentive to do what I do.”

Congratulations to every young entrepreneur starting their journey with the help of Summer Company.