THUNDER BAY - At just 15 years of age, Justin Nadon is taking a personal dilemma and creating a business out of it.
Nadon was on hand at the Thunder Bay and District Entrepreneur Centre’s Summer Company trade show earlier this week.
The young mogul, who just finished ninth grade, has started a company named Justicks, which aims to bring affordable hockey sticks to local youth.
“Basically I’m fixing $300 hockey sticks and selling them for around $80 to people who can’t afford them.”
Any hockey player or enthusiast knows the plight of a broken stick. And while the pros have sufficient funds to replace them, it wasn’t so easy for players like Nadon.
“In a tournament I broke two sticks in a row, and my parents were going crazy,” Nadon said. “I needed to find an idea to find a high-end hockey stick for half the price.”
The Grade 9 student has reached out to local hockey arenas, and has gone as far as Sudbury in the search of broken sticks. What’s even more impressive is he makes the repairs himself.
“I use a carbon repair kit because the sticks themself are made of carbon fiber,” Nadon said. “I used mine for half of the season and it’s just as strong.”
While Nadon’s business idea is in its early stages, he is optimistic that the tradeshow will help get his name out into the community.
“I’m not a really big talker, I’ve never been like that. So the (Summer Company) really prepared me for this.”
Summer Company is an entrepreneur program, which teams up with Staples for the tradeshow for the last four years,
The program is designed to help students between the ages of 15 and 29 start and run their own business.
“We provide training and mentoring for the students,” said Tess Ahola, program coordinator for the entrepreneur centre. “We introduce them to accounting practices, insurance policies, different marketing techniques - all thing you wouldn’t learn in the formal education stream.”
Alongside the education and experience, participants can earn up to $3,000 to get their ideas in motion.
