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PAGE 18, WHMTY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1989 WHIBY REE PRES A BUSINESS UFDArT INFORMATION FEATUIRE N W Annal youmg entrepreneur awards are awaiing FSr the second corisecutive year the FfedlBusiness Developmen Bank (FBlDB) is soeeing noentinees for its annual 'Young Entreprèneur" Awards. Established asat year; the awards, te, be presented during Smal Business Week Oct 22 - 28e recognize the achievements of entrepreneurs aged 29 years or younar. N&ninees are judged on the floigcriteria.' 1) innovation -- ha ittiii he compan9s prodi4 service, production process, marketing srtyetc. 2) operating sucsa -- whec indludes sales, growth prospects for the future, employmnent creation, quick acceptance in the marketplace and 3) community involvement -- the participation of the entrepreneur in charitable work, service clubs and devlopment work on behaif of raising awareness of business. consideration will also -be given -te the entrepreneur's age at start-up, unique problenis or challenges the company was able to, face and overcome, longevity of the busiess. etc. A total of 12 awards will h presented -- one for each province and territoxy. In addition, there will be four district winners -- one for Northem Ontario, Southwestern Ontarîo, Eastern Ontario and Greater Mtropoitan Toronto ares. These winners will be submitted as the finaliats in the province-wide competition. Last year's Ontario winner was 20-year-old Alex Munter, the owner and operator of a weekly community newspaper serving the west Ottawa - Carleton communities. Munter started the paper st age 14, ha as the sole employee, with just over $5%000 in annual sales and 2,000 copies once a month. Today he employa a total of 105 people, enjoys sales of $273,000 and distibutes 12,000 copies eveiy week. Provincial territorial winners will ha presented with their swards at the national launch of Small ,Business Week in Montreal. entrepreneurs can enter themselves in the conteat, or can ha nominated by others Anyone interested in entering a young entrepreneur shld col vfntct thir local FMDB Worldnews, sports p.ush up, cablepr ices BRUCE RONDEAU (left) of BCR Construction listens as James Stewart of The Computer Depot, explains a plan to meet Rondeau's business needs. Týrudie Zavadovlcs-Free Proe photo Computer Depot saves tiLme and lutter By Trudie Zavadovies Whitby's newest computer centre The Computer Depot, is "cser fiiendIy." The pristine offices at 1621 McEwen Dr., unit 19, in south Whitby consiat of a reception ares, demonstration area and, in the back, a large rýepair shop. Office clutter is non-existent and so are filing cabinets - every- thing is on the 20 meg computer ,çystem. James Stewart is one of two owners of The Computer Depot which originated in Glasgow, Scotland in 1984 and from there exporta internationally. "Our branch is 100 per cent Canadian owned," stresses Stewart. His store has been stea- dilfbusy since their opening 'e actually started in Osh- awa in.July '88» as a computer repair company," said Stewart. "We merged our existing repair company with our new company and have already picked up quite a few new customers. "Our objective is to offer our customers complete computer solutions. We look at their pre- sent requirements, then auto- mate their office procedures either graduafly or at once depending on their needs. "We service a lot'of busin,..as in downtown Oshawa and are look- ing to service the Durham Region,» said Stewart. The Computer Depôt offers a full service from a completel3 new systeni, upgrading an exiat. ing system or taking trade-ins on the custemer's existing equip- ment. "We also offer a complete sys- tem analysis,» said Stewart. 'Ve, have leasing, short- or long-term rentaIs, and we offer loner equip-ý ment while re pairs are being done. We'l pick up euipment and deliver it rep aired.qThere is no charge for pic k-up or delivery. Often the unit can be fixed on the 5pot. We also offer training," said Stewart. "Another advantage is that there are no locks on our soft- ware. It is very easy to update, the customer doesn't have to bring it back to us." Bruce Rondeau of BOR Con- struction was one store visitor who was interested in what The Computer Depot had to offer. He was looking to computerize his office. "It would save time. Manually, it takes about four hours te, come up with a quote. If, through the computer, it would take a a matter of minutes, I would be saving time and better servicing my customers," said Rondeau. "I have had a computer for three or four years now but haven't used it to its full capabi- lity." He says that With advice eenlhe can "do paperwork, aibble with designs and spend more time with my customers.» The store is open Monday te Friday from 8:30 a.m. te 4:30 p.m., or phone 436-2249 for even- ing or weekend appointments. *Rogers Cablesystems Inc. bas announced new rates, pending CRTC' approval, te, provide expanded progamnming and technical improvements. In Oshawa-Whitby, Rogers' basic cable service wiIl be increased. $3.54 per month. The new rate takes effect Sept. 1, 1989. A major component of the increase will ailow the addition of two new program networks te, the basic service. CBC Newswor1ds 24-hour news and information channel goes on air July 31, providing a Canadian perspective te, world news aroud the dlock and greater regional and special interest news coverage. TSN (The Sports Network) is also being added te basic service as of Sept. 1. Until now, subscribers paid as much as $9.95 for TSN as a pay TV channel. By including TSN on basic, Rogers is also able to, reduce the price of some pay television packages. For almost 20 per cent of Rogers' customers, this will mean a significant reduction in monthly The scondà major component Of the increase wiil partially recou!p capital expenditures Rogers wiil make te improve its cable systeni. Rogers is rebuilcing its system te accominodate up te 58 channels by the end of 1990, te improve picture quality due te the growing popularity of big-screen television sets and, longterm, te prepare for high definition t.elevision which is expected te be available in Canada within a few years. To meet the exacting technical standards required to produce the exceptionally high picture resolution and stereo quality of HDTV, Rogers is converting many of its transmission limes te fibre optics. Other Rogers improvements this fail will be a new 24-hour repair answering service for repairs, weekend installation service and extended telephone hours at its business office. "As. a service industry, we have te, keep pace with the rapidly changing technology and ever-increasing demand by our subacribers for more viewing options," says Colin Watson, psident of Rogers Cablesystemns L. "We believe the picture and sound quality of our signal, as well as the entertainnient variety. we offer, must meet the highest standards." Rogers Cablesystema serves more than 1.5 million customers in the Toronto, Hamilton, Oshawa/Whitby, Newmarket, Mississauga, Bramnpton,. London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cornwall, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria areas. First Choice prices -plungie CUC Broadcasti ng Limited and First Choice > Canadian Communications Corpration have jointjy announced they wil be rolling back prices on the First Choice network to levels lower than when pay television was launched more than six years ago. As of Sept. 1, 1989, in most of the CUC systemas, the price for First Choice will be $9.95 - a 33 per cent reduction from the present $14.95 price. Similar savings are also available with pay TV packages containing FIrst Choice. For a household with the most comprehensive pay TV package which includes First Choice and Famnily Channel, the CUC price reduction means a savings of $8 per month. The price of First Choice has not increased since its introduction' in Febriiaiy, 1983. In comparison, the admission ticket to a movie theatre bas nearly doubled in the' samne period. "The rnove of TSN from pay television to'basic service this S<ltemnber presents us with an opportunity to re-evaluate our packaging and our pricing," states Walter Weckers, senior vice-president of CUC cable division. 'We asked cur consumers what they thought. The research shows that with the optimum price/programming combination, we (customers, First Choice and CUC) can ail benefit from lower pricing." Fred T. K-iMnkhammer, president and CEO of First Choice said; "Frst Choice has been actively pursu.ing an inflation-fighting opportunity for some time; we're.very pleased that CUCC's foresight and initiative Matches our longterm vision. This is apatnership that's gigt a e "movie history": Based on a prerniere titie every day and $9.95,» that works out to 32 cents per movie r event. First Choice provides mnore titles, now at a better price, than any simuilar U.S. pay