The following statement was issued by the Honourable Paul Oram, Minister of Business. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

I rise today to congratulate 26 students from Memorial University�s business faculty who, last night, took top place as the "most enterprising campus in Canada" at the 2008 National Exposition of ACE, Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship. This is the third consecutive year that ACE Memorial was named national champion.

As national winners, they now get to go up against the best student teams in the world at the Students in Free Enterprise (or SIFE) World Cup in Singapore this October.

The ACE Memorial SIFE team of Heather Comerford, Sarah Fisher, Michael Harris, Haroon Iqbal, Lisa Smart and Michael Wadden won the final round against Mount Royal College, Ryerson University, the University of Calgary and Wilfred Laurier University. Memorial students also earned first place in the financial education challenge and performed well in the entrepreneurship category.

At the ACE National Exposition universities from across the country showcase their entrepreneurial ventures and community outreach and leadership projects.

This year alone, ACE Memorial�s more than 80 members dedicated over 26,000 volunteer hours to 17 different projects that made a difference to an estimated 2,400 people. These projects include:

• An initiative to help foster greater entrepreneurial skills and financial literacy among high-school students;
• Launch Pad, an incubation centre for student entrepreneurial ventures; and
• the "Think Green" program, which teaches young students how to run their own profitable recycling venture.

We have become accustomed to hearing about the outstanding accomplishments of ACE Memorial teams as they consistently place at or near the top of regional, national and international competitions. Last year I was fortunate to have the opportunity to join the Premier to see ACE Memorial�s 2007 SIFE presentation first-hand. As we know, they finished second worldwide. These truly are our future business and community leaders in the making.

ACE Memorial encourages young entrepreneurs in this province to build bright and rewarding futures for themselves and their communities by practicing and teaching others the principles and values of entrepreneurship. I know all honourable members will join me in acknowledging these enterprising students for all their hard work and dedication in preparing for these competitions and in carrying out their valuable community work.

They represented their faculty, their university, and Newfoundland and Labrador extremely well at this prestigious national event, and they will make for a formidable Team Canada at the SIFE World Cup. Again, I congratulate them and wish them success in Singapore.

2008 05 15                                                1:50 p.m.