Students in Holland College’s new Energy Systems Engineering Technology program and the Small Business Management program in the college’s West Prince Campus recently garnered a $10,000 prize in Atlantic Business Magazine’s Go Green, Get Green contest for the environmental plan they created for the fictional Atlantic Canadian town of Greenville.

Last September, Atlantic Business Magazine, in collaboration with the magazine’s Devil’s Advocate columnist and Clearwater Seafoods CEO John Risley, launched the competition. Students throughout Atlantic Canada were challenged to submit their ideas on how to transform the town into the most environmentally-friendly community on the planet. Their submissions were judged by Gretchen Fitzgerald, director, Atlantic Canada Chapter, Sierra Club of Canada.

The Holland College joint submission was remarkable, said Dawn Chafe, Executive Editor of Atlantic Business Magazine.

“We were particularly impressed by the collaborative nature of the Holland College submission. The fact that their team was comprised of both business students and energy technology students ensured that their business plan merged both schools of thought: they combined the innovative processes and visionary spirit of alternative energy with a realistic, fiscally sustainable action plan. This holistic approach made for a very impressive – and ultimately, top-award-winning – submission. Both the student participants and the faculty leaders are to be congratulated for their efforts.”

Energy Systems Engineering Technology student Justin McCarthy said the group was excited about participating in the competition.

“When the opportunity came up for our class to participate in the Go Green, Get Green challenge, we thought it would be an excellent way to kick off the ESET program.  Everyone involved put in a lot of time and effort, and our winning the contest just goes to show the quality of the program that Holland College has developed.  It also adds a nice boost to all of our resumes when we start looking for employment,” he said.

“Atlantic Canada’s economic and environmental future should come not just from the provinces’ traditional resources,” said instructor Blair Arsenault. “Our goal with Greenville is to provide a template that can be used  throughout Atlantic Canada to make our towns environmentally friendly, energy conscious, healthier and happier places to live.”

Megan O’Halloran, one of the Small Business Management students, agreed.

“Entering into the ‘Go Green Get Green’ Contest was a great opportunity for us to take on a completely new challenge while learning at the same time. It was an experience that will follow all of us as we continue our studies in the business field. The contest not only brought our class together to form a team but also gave us the chance to collaborate with another class from the college and learn from them, as well. It was a great experience with an even better outcome,” she said.

“The Greenville project afforded our Small Business Management students the opportunity to work on a collaborative project with another Holland College team to facilitate learning in a dynamic way,” program instructor Lisa Finkle said. “It also provided students with ‘real world’ experience in the crafting of a project proposal and business plan that showed great initiative and originality.”

The prize provides $8,500 for Holland College and $1,500 for the students on the team.

In this picture: (L-R) Energy Systems Engineering Technology instructor Blair Arsenault and students Ernie Tracey, Besnik Paloja, and Tyler MacKay in the program’s lab. The ESET students and students from the Small Business Management program teamed up to enter Atlantic Business Magazine’s Go Green, Get Green Challenge, and placed first, winning $10,000.