Small Business Foundations - Industry Education Council

In partnership with City School by Mohawk College and funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Industry-Education Council of Hamilton offered a FREE training opportunity for persons over 19 years old and not enrolled in high school, college or university. The course helped in building and creating websites that supported job seekers and those interested in starting a new career.

Web development is a high-growth career path, and the Coding Boot Camp taught participants the advanced skills they needed to get started in this lucrative area. In this fast-paced, immersive course they learned the skills that were needed to master front-end and back-end technology. They received an official record of completion, called a Certificate of Completion, highlighting their achievements to potential employers, as well as real-world project experience that's directly relevant to the workforce.

Coding Bootcamp offered web development for absolute beginners and had no coding-based prerequisites! Applicants were expected to possess general computer skills such as being able to navigate applications & websites as well as copying, pasting & saving various file types. By the end of this course, participants learned tools that enabled them to create their own web page with various functions and features. Mastering this range of technologies allowed them to develop high-quality websites that work seamlessly on mobile, tablet, and large-screen browsers. The course culminated in a personal website project and a presentation to fellow classmates about the function and use of the site and the tools that they learned.

This unique program offered students, in Grades 6-8, the opportunity to learn simple software programming languages allowing them to explore the world of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT). This introduction opened up career pathways and 21st-century learning skills for students. The IEC of Hamilton recruited ICT professionals and post-secondary students to facilitate the delivery of the club.

As a result of this course, participants:

built a spark of interest in ICT
were equipped with an introductory foundation in software programming
developed critical thinking, collaboration, and creative thinking skills
continued educational achievement past high school

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Small Business Foundations for Women was a FREE course funded by the Hamilton Community Foundation/Women4Change. The program was being offered by the Industry-Education Council of Hamilton, This program was limited to the women or female identifying community members over the age of 19 years old.

As a result of this course, participants:

built confidence that can help them in starting a new business.
were able to describe their own personal skills that can contribute to their success as an entrepreneur.
improved presentation skills while learning to develop and deliver a business pitch.

Upon successful completion of the course and business pitch, participants received a City School Micro Certificate.

The ONLINE Small Business Foundations for Women course took place over 6 weeks. As a result of the Women for Change Grant at Hamilton Community Foundation, we were able to support 27 women entering entrepreneurship via the Small Business Foundations program in Partnership with City School by Mohawk.

You can learn more by visiting City School by Mohawk or by contacting experience@iechamilton.ca

Professional Engineers Ontario volunteer speakers share with us a desire to make a difference in their communities by contributing their time, energy and exceptional talents to the students of the Greater Hamilton area. This community of more than 80,000 professional engineers is committed to enhancing the quality of life, safety and well-being in the province. Contact us to have an engineer come into your classroom and support your STEM curriculum by introducing the multi-faceted career opportunities and the educational pathway to your students.

Small Business & Entrepreneurship was a FREE-to-student course fully funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, in partnership with City School by Mohawk College. The 12-week program was offered twice in 2020 to local community members over the age of 19 years old.

As a result of this course, participants:

were empowered and inspired to build their confidence to start a new business.
developed an understanding of, connections in and practical experience with Hamilton’s small business and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
received a low-risk exploration of and introduction to the process and mechanics of business ownership such as registration, licensing and funding.

Upon successful completion of the course and business pitch, participants received a City School by Mohawk Certificate.

Originally scheduled to take place at the Hamilton Public Library – Red Hill Branch, students in the first session were able to complete in-person classes before the decision was made to take the program to an online platform as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Due to the changes, we and City School were able to arrange for a third cohort of students to attend a shortened, 6-week version of the program earning them a City School By Mohawk Micro-Certification. As a direct result of the commitment to the community and the funding provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, 90 local Hamiltonians were admitted to Mohawk College via this program in 2020.

Through the generous support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Hamilton 12Up is a collaborative ‘seed’ project to develop an initiative to increase high school graduation rates. This project is a collaborative initiative with partnerships between the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Pathways to Education, the United Way Halton & Hamilton and many community partners. The IEC of Hamilton leads this initiative providing volunteer opportunities and mentorship to Hamilton high school students in need of their compulsory 40 hours of volunteerism. Community organizations in the not-for-profit sector will open their doors and provide mentorship to high school youth. This opportunity will support students and offers them the chance to give back to the community, provide an opportunity to develop new skills, build on existing experience and contribute to their graduation requirements.

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Welcome to the I.C.E. Certification Program, which is a Ministry-approved certification for SHSM Students. Participants will gain an introductory experience to entrepreneurship and how an entrepreneurial model can be applied to solving problems. During a full day contextual experiential session, participants will learn how to use innovation to overcome challenges and discover the value creativity brings to problem solving and resource management. This introductory experience teaches students how to complete a basic business plan that can be grown into a micro-business endeavour and can be used to complete one of the certification requirements for SHSM students. This training is available for high school students and can be arranged by classroom teachers or program coordinators.

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This unique Entrepreneurship Program, engages youth in a demonstration of entrepreneurship as a viable career option. MIGHTY utilizes experiential learning to provide context for small business success. Participants gain foundation knowledge for a small business launch, which includes product development, customer service, basic financial literacy all focused on implementing a business plan. The program allows participants to be mentored by business professionals, allowing them to develop the skills and confidence needed as they take on the entrepreneurial mindset. Participation supports several SHSM program requirements.

Earn ‘certifications’, ‘reach ahead’, ‘experiential learning’ and ‘co-op’ towards fulfilling SHSM requirements
Develop your own business plan with support of a mentor and coach, apply to the Summer Company Program (grant opportunity up to $3000)
Opportunity to earn 2 Co-op credits over the summer running your own business

MIGHTY is an after school program open to high school students 14-19 years old in the Greater Hamilton Area in the HWCDSB and HWDSB . Sessions are hosted at Mohawk College, Fennell Campus.