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6 mbiz | may 2015 c ommunity Futures' Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program (EDP) provides advice, training and access to loans to help people with disabilities or ongoing health conditions start businesses in rural Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Since 2011, EDP's Just Watch Me! video contest has invited rural entrepreneurs to share their stories and inspire others. Meet three Manitoba winners in this year's contest: Sydney deneka (Seasoned Entrepreneur, first place) started Kozy Kritters by Sydney, an embroidered blanket home business, in 2012. "Sydney was really, really excited about winning first prize," says her mother, Heather Deneka, adding Sydney was showered with accolades when the principal of her school, Edward Schreyer High School in Beausejour, announced her win over the intercom. Area residents got behind "the blanket girl," and voted for her video by the thousands. She received over 15,000 votes — 52% of the total, according to EDP coordinator Susan Bater. Since her win, Sydney has received 130 orders for her blankets, which she embroiders on a machine purchased with earlier profits. The packaged blankets include a dog or cat motif, a toy and a home-made pet treat. A veterinary clinic in St. John's, Nfld. orders her pet blankets regularly. She also receives commissions for newborn baby fleeces, which are packaged with a toy and a copy of Sydney's Story, a description of her triumphant struggle over the debilitating effects of a rare genetic disorder known as Coffin Siris Syndrome. Heather says the $1,000 Just Watch Me! prize money is being invested in a renovation of Sydney's work room. Sydney has two dogs — shih tzu Lily and poodle-yorkie mix Maggie — and to date, she has donated nearly $600 to pet shelters, rescues and the Winnipeg Humane Society. JuSt Watch me! Winning entrepreneurs are contest video stars By David Square

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