Zach Sheng named Richmond Hill's 2021 Young Entrepreneur

9 students took part in this year's Summer Company program

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 22, 2021
Yoyo Yan

Richmond Hill council and the family of former mayor William Bell have presented this year's William F. Bell Young Entrepreneur Award to 22-year-old Richmond Hill resident Zach Sheng.

The award recognizes successful young entrepreneurs taking part in Summer Company, a program helping students aged 15 to 29 learn how to run their own business.

Sheng's passion for animals and entrepreneurial spirit drove him to start Charmy Box, an online subscription-based pet store company focused on pet food and nutrition. What makes Charmy Box unique is that it provides pet owners with natural and nutritional pet food carefully selected for their pet breed.

With support of Summer Company under the direction of Richmond Hill's Small Business Enterprise Centre, Sheng gained skills to take his company to the next level, earning more than $50,000 in revenue this past summer.

"I found my time in the Summer Company program to be incredibly beneficial and highly practical. I plan to continue scaling Charmy Box with a goal to help millions of pets around the world," said Sheng.

Sheng was one of nine young entrepreneurs who grew their business by participating in this year's program. The others are:

Michael August (17) -- Your Home Court Advantage is a driveway sealing company that also specializes in creating personalized basketball courts on home driveways.

Alexandria Lin (20) -- Frostack Games is a female-led video game company whose goal is to create games that are accessible and affordable to customers.

Rachel Lin (18) -- Pen by Rach! is an online retail company selling creative products, such as stickers, posters and other custom art.

Anaum Osman (18) -- Pretty Little Picnics offers individuals living in the Greater Toronto Area a chance to indulge in an on-demand, luxury picnic.

Rachel Rusonik (19) -- Sugarcrash Apparel is a sustainable apparel business focused on selling environmentally friendly, embroidered apparel items to female teenagers and young adults.

William Zhai (17) -- Spotless Pressure Washing is a pressure washing business that provides driveway cleaning and re-sanding services to residents of Richmond Hill.

Rachel Zhu (17) -- Rugzee is a personalized rug tufting business selling custom tufted rugs as well as rug kits so everyone can experience making their own rugs.

Roger Luo (20) -- Apex Affinity is a property management service company that provides an online application where tenants and property owners can pay rent, create a variety of tickets and hold private or open discussions.

By the end of the three-month-long program, this year's group collectively generated close to $94,000 in revenue and seven of the nine student entrepreneurs plan to continue their businesses throughout the school year.

Since launching in 2004, Richmond Hill's Summer Company program has provided more than 160 local young entrepreneurs with foundational support to start and grow a business.

The William F. Bell Young Entrepreneur Award is named in honour of Bell who served Richmond Hill for 26 years, including six terms as mayor.