Not every 12-year-old asks for shares in a business for his birthday.

But that was the moment that started Memorial University student Nathan Young on his path to studying commerce and economics.

In the last month alone, Mr. Young’s student team won the John Molson School of Business Van Berkom Small-cap Case Competition, and he won the $45,000 Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies.

Frank H. Sobey Award

The award is one of the biggest student awards in Atlantic Canada.

It recognizes entrepreneurial students for their academic achievements as well as their university and community leadership.

His big win makes him the 22nd Memorial University student to earn the honour since the program began in 1989.

Back-to-back wins for Memorial

Mr. Young, along with fellow Memorial University students Kirk Edwards, Russell Noseworthy and Luke Sullivan, won the John Molson School of Business Van Berkom Small-cap Case Competition at Concordia University last month.

It’s a competition Memorial also won last year, marking the first time a university earned back-to-back wins. Mr. Young was the common denominator on the victories, as he was on the team this year and last.

Teams from across North America apply for the Van Berkom competition by completing a detailed analysis of a small-cap company. Nine schools are then invited to participate in the live finals.

Over two intensive days of competition, teams are given five hours to analyze the same small-cap company and then present an investment recommendation to a panel of industry judges.

Memorial was in second, just one point behind the leader, after day one.

By the end of day two, Mr. Young’s team earned a total of 55 points for the win. The University of Laval placed second with 52 points and HEC Montreal was third with 50 points.

Graduating this spring, job lined up

A Torbay native, Mr. Young will graduate with joint commerce (co-operative) and arts in economics degrees this spring.

After graduation, he’s moving to Toronto to work for SagePoint Capital Partners as an analyst.

Mr. Young completed all three of his work terms at the firm, which invests in and supports small-to medium-sized enterprises.

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For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Chad Pelley, media relations manager for Memorial University, at chad.pelley@mun.ca or 709-853-4281.