RRHS students start summer companies

Ken Johnston

Two young men from Rainy River High School were among five recipients of a Summer Company grant.
Jay Neilson, 17, of Stratton and Chad Armstrong of Rainy River both received approval from the Northwest Business Centre (NBC). The funding came from the Ontario Government Young Entrepreneur Strategy.
Neilson’s business is called P.C. Handyman Computer Services. He will focus on providing support and repair services for area computer owners. “I have always liked working on computers and had people asking for help.”
He started thinking about it as a business in the spring and submitted a business plan to NBC in April.
He said the main service he expects to be called for is to deal with spyware and computer viruses. However, he said he is fluent with hardware problems as well.
He has received $1,500 in initial funding and once he completes a final report on how his business went over the summer he will be eligible to receive another $1,500.
He used the first $1,500 as well as about $2,000 of his own money to set up his business and buy a portable laptop computer. “If someone is having trouble and can’t connect to the internet I can hook them up to my computer and work on the problem.”
While Neilson is willing to go to a person’s home, he is also willing to take their troubled PC home for some tender loving care. “Sometimes the problem will take hours to fix and it is then easier for me to take it home and work on it.”
Living in Stratton, Neilson charges a bit more for the first hour to cover travel costs but then goes on a flat rate per hour for his services. He said he will travel from Rainy River to Fort Frances and possibly as far away as Kenora if he has enough calls from that area.
He can be reached via email at: pc_handyman@hotmail.com or by phone at 483-5866.
The Record tried to reach Chad Armstrong to do an interview but was unable to do so. Armstrong, 17, of Rainy River, has started Summer Drummer. He will be offering percussion lessons to clients and is selling musical instruments. According to the NBC news release he feels his Summer Company will be successful thanks to the exposure he receives playing with his band at local events.
The other three recipients of the grant were from Dryden and Red Lake.