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Waterloo Web Development Company Founder Named Regional Champ

OTTAWA, March 18 /CNW/ - Joseph Fung, a third year student at the University of Waterloo, was today named regional champion for Central Canada (Ontario and Quebec) in the 2005 CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year award competition. Joseph received the honour for the development and operation of Central Canada's top-rated student owned and operated business among 73 nominees from the region. He has won $1,000 and a chance to become this year's national CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year.
Joseph received top marks from Central Canada judges for Lewis Media, a Waterloo-based web development company. Their flagship product, WebAdmin(TM), allows website owners to easily update their websites without the ongoing cost of a webmaster.

"A recent CIBC report predicted that Ontario will lead the way in small business growth this year," said Rob Paterson, Senior Vice President, CIBC Small Business Banking. "Entrepreneurs like Joseph are driving this growth and we are thrilled to be working with ACE to recognize his tremendous success with Lewis Media."

Joseph will travel to Toronto from May 1 to 3 to compete for the 2005 CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year title at the annual ACE (Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship) National Exposition. There, Joseph will present his business before an independent panel of leading Canadian businesspeople. In addition to the title, the national winner will take home $2,000.

Joseph will compete against Western Region finalist Cara Moeller of Calgary (Beat It Dance and World Class Dance), and Eastern Region finalist Jonathan DeYoung of New Glasgow (LollygaggerU.com).

The 2005 CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award will be presented at the ACE National Exposition on May 3. More than 300 students representing university and college campuses across the country and prominent business leaders are expected to attend the event. Last year's participants in the Exposition included Mario Pilozzi, President and CEO, Wal-Mart Canada, Linda Hohol, President and CEO, TSX Venture Exchange, and Marc Chouinard, President and COO, The Bay.

The CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year award, presented by CIBC and ACE, celebrates and showcases the accomplishments of Canadian student entrepreneurs. It is open to full-time Canadian university and college students who are primarily responsible for the management and operation of their own businesses. This year's program attracted over 140 nominations from students nationwide.

Nominations for the CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award were submitted through the ACE website from September 7, 2004 to November 5, 2004. Entries were evaluated on a 100-point scale outlining how effective the student was in demonstrating a need for their product or service (20 points); reaching their target market (20 points); expressing their vision and future plans (20 points); how they have applied their learning to enhance their success (20 points); ensuring the company is socially responsible (10 points); and effectively presenting their business to the panel (10 points).

Joseph Fung

Joseph Fung is currently completing his third year of computer engineering at the University of Waterloo. He has been recognized as a student leader by both the Engineering Student Society and the University's Federation of Students. Joseph expects to graduate in May, 2006.

About CIBC Small Business

CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with more than 500,000 small business customers in Canada. CIBC is committed to helping small businesses succeed and has more than 1,300 business employees across the country working with entrepreneurs to help them achieve their business and personal financial goals. A founding sponsor of ACE, CIBC is proud to support Canada's up-and-coming small business owners through the CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award. For more information, visit: www.cibc.com/smallbusiness.

About ACE

Founded in the mid-1980s, ACE is a national, not-for-profit organization that is igniting young Canadians to create brighter futures for themselves and their communities. Working in partnership with business and higher education, ACE organizes and motivates teams of university and college students who practice and teach others the principles and values of entrepreneurship and market economics. Today, ACE is reaching thousands of students through 45 highly dedicated ACE Teams across Canada.

For further information

Paula Worthington, (416) 304-1566 ext. 220 or paula@acecanada.ca