Press Release
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
National Bank Donates $350,000 to Support the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
First row: Réjean Després, Vice President, Personal and Commercial Banking, Atlantic Canada, National Bank of Canada; Dr. Denis Prud'homme, President and Vice-Chancellor, Université de Moncton; Second row : Camille H. Thériault, Co-Chair of the Evolution Fundraising Campaign; Zoélie Guitard, President of the Students' Association of the Faculty of Administration. Third row: Andrée Savoie, member of the Board of Directors of the National Bank and member of the Cabinet of the Evolution Capital Campaign; Sébastien Deschênes, Dean of the Faculty of Administration.
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National Bank has announced a major $350,000 donation to the Université de Moncton to support the creation of the Programme de relève innovante et performante en PME – Banque Nationale, a new initiative developed for students in administration on all three campuses.
The main objective of this new program funded by National Bank is to enhance contact between students in the Faculty of Administration and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through a series of initiatives supporting the acquisition of practical experience and development of targeted skills in the SME sector. This may include knowledge-sharing and hands-on training workshops, research and development projects and mini-practicums. Besides enriching the learning experience for the next generation of entrepreneurs, the program will contribute to business innovation.
The donation from National Bank will also go toward financing annual scholarships awarded to students in the Master of Science (Management) and Master of Business Administration programs.
“I'm very proud of our commitment to the faculty of business administration at the Université de Moncton. For many years, we’ve been supporting initiatives targeting the region's future entrepreneurs. National Bank's innovative SME succession program will help build bridges between academia and the business world, and directly support several students through scholarships,” said Louis Vachon, President and CEO of National Bank.
“The Université de Moncton is grateful for this generous donation from National Bank, which will contribute to enriching the learning experience for our students by helping them explore the wealth of innovative potential and career opportunities that the SME sector has to offer,” stated President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Denis Prud’homme.
“By enhancing interactions between SMEs and our students, the new program will contribute to development of the next generation of entrepreneurs who will be leading the economic revival in New Brunswick.”
This major donation from National Bank was made under the auspices of the Evolution Fundraising Campaign, which has raised more than $58 million to date to enrich the student experience and support excellence in research and innovation.
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