Future leaders in business, manufacturing and skilled trades honoured by Chamber of Commerce

Graduating students looking to pursue skilled trade, commerce, and manufacturing in their post-secondary careers were honoured by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce last week with their annual Business Engaging Youth Scholarships.

It was a busy week for Carly Ferguson, Alissa Primiani, and Fahad Sadig who began the week celebrating their graduations from local high schools, and bookended it at the Chamber's office at Industrial Parkway and Yonge to accept their scholarships and meet local business leaders whose sponsorships made these awards possible.

“This is the fourth year that we're handing out our Business Engaging Youth Scholarships,” said Alison Mumford, Executive Director of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce. “For the first two years, we did manufacturing and skilled trades only. Last year was the first year we added a Business Scholarship thanks to Lenard Lind and his generous support of that, and we're very happy that he has come back again this year with that contribution.”

Sponsors BUNN and Alectra Utilities were also thanked for their contributions to the program.

This year's recipient of the Business Scholarship is Primiani who was also recognized by the Town of Aurora earlier in the week with one of two John West Memorial Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarships.

Primiani, a graduate of Cardinal Carter Catholic High School, is no stranger to business, having launched her own popular jewellery line.

With her scholarship in hand, she will be pursuing Commerce at Queen's University this fall.

“Through my own business, I've seen how much you can make a source of good for others and bring a light to other people,” she says. “I thought that maybe I could pursue more through a really good business degree and it would help me a lot.”

At Queen's, she plans to major in Marketing with an additional focus on sustainability in business.

“I think this is a really great opportunity,” says Primiani of the scholarship. “If you're really interested in business and also leadership and using your business to help others, I think this is a really great opportunity to continue your post-secondary education and also further better yourself as an individual.”

Sadig, who is this year's recipient of the Manufacturing Scholarship, sees similar value in the scholarship and the overall program.

“I believe that our Chamber of Commerce has put together this great program that's able to show students the importance of manufacturing,” he says, adding he finds careers in manufacturing are often overlooked as strictly assembly line jobs.

Sadig, a graduate of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School, is set to pursue Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto this fall and is particularly interested in robotics, and how Artificial Intelligence is impacting the manufacturing sector.

“I'm focused on pursuing opportunities within U of T and also the Toronto-area of having start-up experiences and getting into tech start-up environments and pursuing opportunities such as hackathons and events where I'm able to network and meet with people who are as passionate as me about solving such problems,” he says.

“I would say the biggest thing for people applying [for these scholarships] is always believe that you're enough with the experiences you have and you should show your passion for that industry.”

Ferguson's passion for the skilled trades has been evident throughout her time at Aurora High School, particularly in her final years where she pursued co-ops in the field of carpentry.

Skilled trades are often seen as a man's game, she says, and this is a perception she says she hopes to challenge as she pursues her own path in the industry.

“This scholarship means a lot because there's a lot of second-thoughts of females going into the trades – it's very daunting,” she says. “With this support and the scholarship, it's more motivation for that. Having this extra support kind of gives you the push you need and I am very honoured to have gotten it.”

Ferguson says she intends to use the scholarship dollars to secure the tools and equipment she needs to make a go of it.

“I like being able to see the process [of carpentry] and the I-created-this-with-my-hands moment,” she says. “It's just really fun and works different parts of the brain, it takes a lot of problem solving, and it's never a dull moment.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter