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Three Dal alumni named Atlantic Canada entrepreneurs of the year

With burgeoning businesses in sustainable packaging, craft beer brewing and locally made food products, Dal alumni were honoured by the prestigious EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards program.

Posted: October 16, 2024

By: Allison Barss

Dalhousie’s reputation as an entrepreneurial powerhouse was strengthened on Thursday, Oct. 10 when three alumni were honoured with entrepreneur of the year awards by EY Canada.

Award winner and proud Dal alum Mina Mekhail (BEng’06), shares that it was his time at Dal that ignited the passion that later became his life’s work as CEO and founder of Freshr Technologies, a sustainable packaging company. 

“I have immense gratitude for two Dalhousie professors who profoundly shaped my career,” Mekhail says. “Dr. Paul Gratzer of the School of Biomedical Engineering sparked my interest in biomaterials—one that ultimately became the foundation of Freshr.”

Combining passion and skills to tackle complex challenges

Since 1994, EY Canada (formerly Ernst & Young) has celebrated the accomplishments of Canadian entrepreneurs who continuously reshape the nation’s economy through innovation and hard work. Now in its 30th year, the Entrepreneur of the Year awards program shines a light on those who combine passion and determination with skill to create businesses that tackle the world’s most complex challenges.

Mekhail adds that it was Dal prof Dr. Ken Wilkie’s hands-on, practical approach to engineering that fostered his engineering mindset. “I’m beyond proud to call Dalhousie my alma mater and find passion in encouraging fellow scientists to pursue business ownership.”

This year, 160 businesses from coast to coast were selected by an independent panel of judges and recognized for their value creation, purpose-driven leadership and the impact of their work on the communities around them. Twenty-nine of those businesses were from Atlantic Canada.

In addition to Mekhail, Dal alumni Sheena Russell (BSc’09), CEO of Made with Local, a company that makes packaged foods out of locally sourced ingredients, and Sonja Mills (MBA’07, LLB’07), co-owner of Port Rexton Brewing, a craft brewery in Newfoundland, won entrepreneur of the year honours.

Russell smiling in a cafe. Mills sitting in a green chair outdoors. Sheena Russell, left, and Sonja Mills, right, are EY Canada entrepreneurs of the year.

Two other Dal alumni reach finals

Greg Poirier (BSc’00), founder and president of CloudKettle, a company centred around cloud services like Salesforce and Google, also earned a nomination ahead of this year’s Atlantic awards ceremony.

And Amanda Rogers (BA’06), CEO of iPlume Writing, which offers writing and editing services, was Dal’s fifth finalist. She says it was her undergraduate studies in sociology at Dalhousie that sparked her passion for philanthropy, guiding her into leadership roles in the non-profit sector.

“When I transitioned to owning my own business, I continued to foster my sociological perspective my helping under-resourced organizations and underserved communities secure critical funding for their programming,” Rogers said.

Greg Poirier portrait, Amanda Rogers portrait Greg Poirier, left, and Amanda Rogers, right, were nominated for EY entrepreneur of the year awards.