MONCTON, N.B. - March 11, 2005 - Jonathan DeYoung, a third-year student at Saint Francis Xavier University, was today named regional champion for Atlantic Canada in the 2005 CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year award competition. Jonathan received the honour for the development and operation of Atlantic Canada's top-rated student owned and operated business among 43 nominees from the region. He has won $1,000 and a chance to become this year's national CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year.

Jonathan received top marks from Atlantic Canada judges for LoggygaggerU.com, which provides university and college students the ability to exchange, buy and sell new and used textbooks either on campus or through the mail.

"More than one-quarter of Atlantic Canada's small business owners plan to retire in the next five years - one of the highest rates in the country," said Rob Paterson, Senior Vice President, CIBC Small Business Banking. "Entrepreneurs like Jonathan will be leading the rejuvenation of small business in the region and we are thrilled to be working with ACE to recognize his tremendous success with LollygaggerU.com."

Jonathan 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, Jonathan 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.

Jonathan will compete against Western Region finalist Cara Moeller of Calgary (Beat It Dance and World Class Dance), and one yet to-be-named finalist from Central Canada. The Central Region finalist will be announced March 18 in Ottawa

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).

Jonathan DeYoung - LollygaggerU.com

LollygaggerU.com provides university and college students the ability to exchange, buy and sell new and used textbooks either on campus or through the mail. The website also features textbook reviews, and the ability for browsers to scan through textbook pages online.

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 through 51 highly dedicated ACE Teams across the country.

For more information, please contact:

Jen Falzon
Director, Communications and Events 
ACE (Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship)
Tel: 416-304-1566 Ext. 220 | Toll free: 1-800-766-8169
Mobile: 416-529-4093 | Fax: 416-864-0514
jfalzon@acecanada.ca
www.acecanada.ca

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