Representatives for the CBC program Dragon’s Den held auditions Thursday at Loyalist College. Photo by Michael Fleming, QNet News
By Michael Fleming [1]
BELLEVILLE – Loyalist College was the place to be Thursday for local entrepreneurs.
Representatives of CBC’s Dragon’s Den [2] TV program were at Loyalist College from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to hear business pitches. The presentations lasted around 20 minutes each. About 15 people were scheduled to make their pitches, including some Loyalist students.
Diane Dawber, chair and founder of Health Pursuits Reading and Research: MEND [3], was one of the applicants making a pitch at Loyalist. The organization, which is based in Perth Road, Ont., north of Kingston, deals with research and education around health and nutrition. Part of Dawber’s pitch was the hope that someone would be willing to take over operation of the business.
Local entrepreneur Michael Payne prepares to make his pitch. Photo by Michael Fleming, QNet News
Michael Payne was another entrepreneur making a pitch on Thursday. He said he hoped he could make a deal with the Dragons for his business that deals with waste urates, a byproduct of uric acid.
This is not Payne’s first pitch to the show. He auditioned in 2014 at Trent University, but was unable to make it to the telecast.
“It was last minute, heard about it that day, so I just collected everything and went,” he said. “It didn’t really work out too well, so (I’m) going to try again.”
Thursday’s auditions are only the first step in the process to pitch before the investors on Dragon’s Den. The representatives will take their notes and thoughts back to the producers, who will make decisions about who will appear on the show.
Auditions for [4]are continuing across the country through April 7.