So what is the big idea?

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Published on Thursday, September 15, 2016

Banner File Photo. Five of the six business ideas pitched at last year’s “What’s the Big Idea?” event won cash awards. (Left to right) Marilyn Crewe, EDO of Neepawa, was one of the event organizers. The entrepreneurs were Marlies Soltys of Minnedosa, Hali and Doug Finlay of Rapid City, Lisa Ballegeer of Rapid City, Darryn Cameron of Neepawa, and Joyce and Michael Rodericks of Riding Mountain. Vern May (right), EDO of Minnedosa, was the other event organizer.

By Tony Eu

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

The entrepreneurial event ‘What’s The Big Idea?’ is back for round two.

Following the success of last year, 2016 marks the second year this annual event will be happening. Organized by the economic development officers from Neepawa and Minnedosa, this year’s event will be on Thursday, Oct. 20, from 9 am to 4 pm. It’s going to be held at ArtsForward, previously the Viscount Cultural Centre, at 293 Mountain Ave., in Neepawa.

“What’s The Big Idea is an entrepreneur event,” Marilyn Crewe, economic development officer (EDO) for the Town of Neepawa, said. “It’s about supporting entrepreneurs, supporting people who have a business idea and bringing those people together in one room for the day, to talk about their ideas, develop their ideas and help finance their ideas if they’re on the right track,” she explained.

“I think it’s kind of a really exciting opportunity for business,” said Vern May, Minnedosa’s EDO. He also mentioned that a unique challenge is that a lot of the time, when entrepreneurs get into the business world, they feel like they’re on their own.

“It’s almost like themselves against the world,” May noted. “With this event we’ve kind of done some legwork on the community side to get the towns and the RMs involved,” he continued, “and when they have a stake in the success of some of these businesses, there’s almost like built in support from the first day that they open. I think that could be a tremendous boost to a small business owner. As you know, when you get into business, you’re really sticking your neck way out there.”

At the event, individuals will pitch their business idea to a panel of business experts. This panel will judge the pitch and the idea and then distribute awards. Each award or incentive has a set of criteria attached to it. For example, some awards are community based, to receive them the idea must benefit that specific region.

The event really is about bringing entrepreneurs together to improve their ideas and get a foot in the door to the business world, so to speak. 

“It’s a chance for people with a business idea to actually take it out of their head and write it down on paper,” Crewe explained. “Often people spend their lives, ‘if nothing else mattered I would do this thing,’ and what we find is that if people have the chance to start to solidify a business plan, be able to demonstrate that business idea in some way or other and then actually talk to our ‘pitching parlour team’ and pitch their business idea, it actually turns it from this idea to something solid and tangible,” she elaborated.

 “[The goal is], first of all, to let people know that in rural Manitoba, we’re open for business,” May commented. “It sounds a little bit cliché but, to let them know that rural Manitoba is excited about growth and it’s something that we’re interested in, it’s not, ‘well, we already have a gas station and a grocery store, we’re all set, what else could we need?’ May explained. He continued, saying, “We’re now seeing a lot of exciting possibilities, even through some of our home base and online businesses, that a generation ago weren’t even possible, we couldn’t even imagine these things as businesses, let alone an opportunity in rural Manitoba.”

As for what kinds of pitches they’re looking for, Crewe said, “We have two kind of options for this, what we’re looking for is a business plan. We need someone with a new business idea, or someone who’s already in business maybe but they’re looking to change their business plan. Maybe add a new division to their business or start to test out a new market.” 

“So, a new business plan or a change in an existing business plan,” Crewe said in summary.

What that business is though, that’s completely up to the individual.

“We could talk about some of the hottest trends in business overall, but that wasn’t what we saw last year,” May noted. “What we saw were some creative new ideas that we couldn’t have predicted and the businesses that opened as a result have been excitingly successful,” he added.

Thinking about pitching an idea but have no idea where to start?

“We don’t just say come and show up. Entrepreneurs can come in ahead of time, we’ll help them with their pitch, the kinds of things the judges are going to be looking for,” Crewe said.

Since last year’s event, the two EDOs have made some changes to the event. Along with the actual pitches, there will be a ‘Lunch and Learn’. The lunch part is pretty clear, while the learning part is because this year, they’re bringing in a speaker to talk about how to use digital marketing to grow a business. As Crewe states, “This isn’t necessarily just targeted at those entrepreneurs that show up for the event, but it might be something that current business owners would be interested in joining as well.”

“If anybody is curious, whether they’re looking to open a business now, or maybe they’re in business, see the speakers we’ve got, come in for the event, it’s going to be applicable to a very wide audience,” May remarked. He stressed that, “Whether you’re making a pitch or you just want to come out and see what’s happening, it’s going to be a very engaging day.”

This year, the event has over $35,000 worth in awards and incentives, so if you have an idea for a business, now’s the time to get started.

For more information, or to get some help on your pitch, contact Marilyn Crewe at 204-476-7607 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or contact Vern May at 204-867-3885 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .