Young Calgary entrepreneur making backcountry food and winning awards
Erin Creegan-Dougherty had 12 minutes to pitch her business to a panel of judges at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) Canadian national event in Halifax. She was one of eight student finalists chosen from thousands of applicants. Creegan-Dougherty finished third winning $15,000.
"It makes all the difference in the world so for me," she said. "(The prize money) really allowed me to be able to purchase the equipment that's necessary to be able to expand my business to have a full time operation and as most people know, when you're starting business, capital is always the hard thing so it allowed me to push past a lot of those barriers that I had."
Peter Thomas is a tenured Canadian entrepreneur and a founding member of the Emeritus Entrepreneurs Organization. He started the Thomas GSEA Foundation by donating $1.5 million to the program where the prize money came from for Creegan-Dougherty and the other top five finishers.
"I believe the young entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the body of the economy," said Thomas. "I really do feel that the growth and that's one of the reasons I still support it, is because I feel with the growth of these young entrepreneurs into our society and to our economic system, that's what replenishes and reinvents all the new things that we need to make our society evolve."
The 27-year-old Mount Royal University student is in her final year of international business with a minor in history. Her passion for cooking was passed down over generations of family. She's adapted recipes and made up new ones for her business.
"So a backcountry food can be dehydrated, freeze dried or prepared foods," she said. "Something that's ready for someone to grab and go camping or hiking or really for any outdoor enthusiast."
BACKCOUNTRY FOOD NEEDS
It all started around 2019 when she worked for a backcountry outfitter who was having difficulty meeting all his clients' specialty food needs.
"He had a bunch of clients that were coming in that were keto and gluten-free and had all these other restrictions," she said. "He couldn't find anything so it was really one of those things that I was like, oh I can make that for you."
Maskwa Backcountry Foods began as a seasonal, small summertime business, but six months ago it turned into a full-time venture with new and returning clients.
"There's nothing that stopping anyone who's not necessarily going deep into the backcountry and just wants to sit around the fire and try something new from our product," said Creegan-Dougherty. "We always say even though we are backcountry food, we're something that everyone can like at the same time and that's sort of the goal of it."
MASKWA MEANS BEAR
Creegan-Dougherty is Metis and Maskwa means bear in the Cree language. Her nickname growing up was little bear and in northern BC she worked by the Mighty Maskwa River, so she decided to use the name for her company.
Kym Penner is a family friend who helps Creegan-Dougherty any way she can.
"I've gone gluten-free and so Erin will create things in my kitchen and make me taste them good or bad," she said.
Penner has helped prepare meals for some of the company's big clients and is happy to support and help the young entrepreneur.
"I do see (the business) going places," Penner said. "I think there's a niche there, I mean more and more people are having dietary restrictions and we want to eat decently, we want to eat good food, just because we're on dietary restriction doesn't mean we shouldn't."
Creegan-Dougherty hopes one day to see her food products sold at majorly backcountry stores and grocery stores one day.
Learn more about Maskwa Backcountry Foods here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.