From high school to boardroom: How Sask. students are creating corporate websites

Regina website firm hiring high school students 

Youth are the future and a Regina company is bringing the future into the boardroom.

Jeph Maystruck from Strategy Lab Marketing launched a web development and design company called Cupcakes and Websites last December, and has been attracting new talent to move the company forward.

The talent is so new they haven't even received their high school diploma.

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One day after speaking about his tech business at a high school, he received a text from a student asking for a job interview.

That's when it clicked, he says.

He had spent four years presenting to high school students using the same material he pitches to corporations, but didn't consider that those classes could hold the next best tech prodigies.

"Of course I gave him the interview and he nailed it," Maystruck told CBC News.
Younger workforce moves in

Cupcakes and Websites now employs two high school students, and are finalizing a contract with a third. The websites come at a cost of $1,257, plus tax.

Maystruck said he trains the teens for three months, paying them $15 an hour throughout the process. Once they are hired, they receive $20 an hour.

When they have finished school, Maystruck has hopes of of hiring them on at his company or at least giving them the skills they need to be self-sustaining entrepreneurs.

 But he's not bringing them on as a favour.

Maystruck said he believes the future of business isn't about hiring from other countries, but instead turning to youth, many of whom already possess indispensable skills.

He said he was talking with another business owner who said he was hiring someone from Germany to help with a website problem.

"I get offended when people want to keep hiring people overseas and they don't want to trust our younger generation," Maystruck said. "I want Canada to be a leader — and call it the silicon prairie — but we can be a leader in this and we're championing this, we're not just saying it.

"We're going to double down on this younger generation."

Now, the high school students Maystruck has hired are making company websites for clients, and because their work is online, they don't need to be in the office to do it.
Sweet treats

And as if their company isn't unique enough, the web designers hand deliver a batch of homemade cupcakes to clients as a thank you.

Maystruck said they incorporated this delicious dose of kindness because he believes cooking is becoming a lost skill.

But don't worry if you don't have a sweet tooth. Clients who decide not to have the cupcakes can choose a not-for-profit and the cupcakes are delivered there, instead.

"It's the sweetest company in Canada," Maystruck said.
Resource: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/from-high-school-to-boardroom-how-sask-students-are-creating-corporate-websites-1.4241127