Julia Butlin is a St. Francis Xavier student and the creator of Glass by Jules, which specializes in various types of stained-glass décor. Tinkess Photo

CORNWALL – Building a business from scratch requires a mixture of creativity, hard work, determination and faith in yourself and your concept, and on Thurs., July 10, from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. eight young people put their respective ideas out there for the world to see.

Their initial public presentation took place at The Benson Centre in Cornwall.

Summer Company is funded by the Government of Ontario and administered by the Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre. The program encourages students to start and run their own business. Once selected to participate in the program, participants receive $3,000 in start-up funding assistance as well as hands-on coaching and mentoring from local business leaders.

It is a competitive process. The successful participants were selected to participate in the program after completing detailed business plans, including marketing and financial projections.

“Summer Company gives young people a chance to roll up their sleeves and really experience what it’s like to run a business,” said Mireille Lemire, Business Advisor at the Cornwall SDG Business Enterprise Centre. “Through the program, we hope to help shape the future of entrepreneurship in our community.”

As in past years, the 2025 Summer Company participants developed a diverse range of business ideas, including lawn care, hockey training, balloon vendor, custom sticker creation, mobile car detailing, trendy aesthetic fashion seller, stained glass artistry, and window cleaning. They are based in Cornwall and throughout SDG.

The eight entrepreneurs partaking in Summer Company 2025 are:

  • Aditya Kadyan – Carshine
  • Daksh Sahu – DVWN Fashion Reseller
  • Hudson Gibbs – Power Shot Academy (PSA)
  • Julia Butlin – Glass by Jules
  • Milo Hatton – Normal is Boring
  • Muminah Hafizi – Pop of Joy
  • Nicholas Mondoux – Sparkle and Shine
  • William Beaumont – Greener Acres Lawn Care

One of the people who stopped by to see what the new entrepreneurs had to offer was Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry MPP Nolan Quinn, who, prior to stepping into the political arena, was himself a successful business owner. The importance of understanding how to run your own business, according to MPP Quinn, cannot be ignored.

“There’s such an important attribute to be able to understand how to run your own business,” said MPP Quinn.  “To be able to start up and use your creativity and ensure that you understand how businesses work. As you know, most of Canada and Ontario is run by small businesses. It’s a very important aspect of our economy, so to give them these skill sets and to get them to come out of their shell and run their own business, it’s such an important aspect of this program, so we’re very much supportive of it across the province.”

As you speak with the Summer Company participants, you can detect how they see the opportunity differently. Some see it from the perspective of what a potential client would want, while others see it as a means of building on learning or interests that they are already developing.

Aditya (Adi) Kadyan is a U Ottawa student and creator of carshine.ca, a mobile car detailing service. “So, instead of opening up a regular shop, I decided to go mobile,” said Kadyan. “I go to people’s houses,  and clean their cars there, so they don’t have to wait in lines at garages and just provide a better service overall.”

He provided a professional looking flyer which included his website, phone number, Instagram handle and even a QR code. It promises you can book a time in 59 seconds, and he says it has been working well.

Julia Butlin is a St. Francis Xavier student and the creator of Glass by Jules, which specializes in various types of stained-glass décor. She says it was through her Fine Art program that she became interested in stained glass. “I’ve done a lot of different art mediums, and I did stained-glass first semester, last year,” said Butlin. “And I signed up for the next course, and I really liked it. It was different than any other sort of art I’ve done, and I’ve stuck with it.” She had three different varieties on display: copper foil,  mosaic, and fused.”

The Summer Company program can be a steppingstone for students to continue their businesses through their high school and post-secondary years. Small business is the backbone of the Canadian economy and according to Statistics Canada, 97.9% of all employer businesses in Canada are classified as small businesses (fewer than 100 paid employees). This translates to approximately 1.19 million out of 1.21 million businesses. The eight Summer Company students are simply following a well-travelled path to success.