FutureForge Program Solves Real World Business Challenges with Pool of Student Talent

As Alberta businesses face an era of uncertainty and change, Bow Valley College’s FutureForge program is giving them access to no-cost expertise to help navigate the times, while building a next-generation workforce with the skills to contribute from their first day onwards.

For 90 minutes of meetings a month for four months, FutureForge gives small and medium businesses access to a team of 25 business students with a variety of specialized backgrounds.

“This is unique,” says FutureForge creator Ishmam Chowdhury. “We have one centralized Work Integrated Learning office where everything gets taken care of. So for the Chiu School of Business, for example, this is the first time that they had capstones for certain courses. There is not one interdisciplinary capstone model like this in any school in all of Canada.”

Between current uncertainty and the increased use of AI, some companies have slowed the hiring of entry level positions, creating a challenge for those starting out in the Canadian workforce. But already, FutureForge has helped create opportunities for students that may not have been available otherwise.

“Of the eight employers that we've engaged with, 24 of our students have already been hired by these employers,” says Chowdhury. “And these are small companies. We're talking like five people.”

After just six months, this unique model has attracted significant interest as a new way to approach Work Integrated Learning (WIL),leading to an unusual issue for a post-secondary institution: there is now more demand than there are students.

FutureForge held an informative presentation to industry partners on August 28, discussing how to better prepare students for the future while helping businesses navigate unprecedented times. As industries continue to evolve and early-career roles undergo significant change, the discussion focused on understanding emerging workforce needs and how post-secondary institutions can best respond.

The conversation included representatives from non-profit organizations, government, large corporations, small and medium-sized businesses, and entrepreneurial ventures.

FutureForge is made possible through the support of the Business +Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) and the Government of Canada.