Ryan Dorton 36
JMH & Co. and earn his Chartered Accountant designation. But Dorton just so happened to meet his future wife — also a CA — in the office and it was only a matter of time before he called the Gas City home permanently.
“JMH has really provided both of us with lots of opportunities,” Dorton says. “And soon after I got my designation is when I started getting involved in the community.”
The 36-year-old Dorton spent some time working with the United Way, has served on the Chamber of Commerce board and is now involved with the Community Foundation. But where Dorton’s community contribution
While college or university can provide knowledge in pretty much any field, there isn’t exactly a school one can attend to learn how to be a successful entrepreneur.
Without dedicated people ready to mentor and support them, those early struggles for success can be much tougher than necessary.
Ryan Dorton understands that better than most and through his partnership with JMH & Co. in Medicine Hat has played a vital role in setting local young entrepreneurs up for success.
Dorton, born and raised in Prince Albert, came to Medicine Hat in 1998 to article with
maybe stretches the furthest is in his work with the Medicine Hat College.
Dorton volunteers as a mentor for future entrepreneurs and business people at MHC. His goal is to help them be prepared for the obstacles not taught in the classroom and to instill confidence in them before they embark on their own adventures.
“They’re getting their last few years of education and are sort of taking that last step before what we call the ‘real world,’” says Dorton. “It’s really quite fun to work with that group of people, with all the excitement and anxiety they have.”
Sometimes young, budding entrepreneurs need more than confidence, however. Sometimes, they already have a great idea but are lacking the funding to help them get started.
And so a recent initiative of JMH & Co. — of which Dorton played a major part — has helped to secure some funding for these young business-minded people.
“A few years ago the firm was looking for a new, more focused way to get involved with the community and to give back,” Dorton says. “Community work has always been a part of the firm but it was maybe more sporadic. We had this idea to do something where the whole firm could get involved and make the dollars we were giving go farther.”
That’s when they heard about the college’s Entrepreneurial Development Centre, which was just getting rolling at the time. Dorton says as they looked into it they realized this was the perfect fit for them to give back, both financially and through their own business knowledge.
“It had tons of benefits for JMH and we hope that we have provided just as many benefits for the college,” he says.
After a couple of years of focused efforts at the firm, JMH & Co. was able to make a $250,000 donation to the college’s EDC, to be used as both annual scholarships and — more specifically — grant funding for those with a solid new business idea.
“I think a big part of it is helping those young entrepreneurs get over the early hump. There are lots of great ideas out there and we just wanted to try and drop the barrier for them.”
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