7 April 2008
Halifax, Nova Scotia
A new training program will help Atlantic Canada's women entrepreneurs acquire tools and knowledge to grow their businesses. At a news conference today in Halifax, Gerald Keddy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and to the Minister of International Trade, announced a Government of Canada investment of more than $286,000 to Mount Saint Vincent University's Centre for Women in Business to develop and deliver a six-month skills-building initiative for established women entrepreneurs in the growth phase of business.
"The Government of Canada is committed to helping Atlantic Canada's women business owners grow and prosper in the marketplace," said Mr. Keddy on behalf of the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister of ACOA. "ACOA's contribution to this training program will help women entrepreneurs achieve their business goals by providing them with training and learning opportunities to enhance their companies' management capacity. This investment will benefit not only women-owned businesses, but the economy of Atlantic Canada."
The skills-building initiative "Advance", which begins this month in the four Atlantic provinces, will focus on two main components: group training and one-on-one consulting. The group training is a series of half-day workshops to provide information and advice to women entrepreneurs on how to advance their businesses, including sessions on human resources management and funding opportunities. The second component is a consulting program that will offer 25 hours of one-on-one consultation. Each of the participants will obtain a business diagnostic and then work with a consultant to develop a business growth action plan customized to her company's needs, while learning management skills and creating strategies for implementation.
"At Mount Saint Vincent University, we are committed to the advancement of women. We consider it an honour and privilege to take a leadership role in developing and delivering a program that will advance women business owners and benefit local economies across Atlantic Canada," said Shelley Simpson McKay, executive director of the Centre for Women in Business.
A leader in women entrepreneurship, the Centre for Women in Business is located at Mount Saint Vincent University, and assists entrepreneurs by providing them with the support, resources, training and information they need to start or grow their businesses. The centre is continually developing new programs to uphold the mission of the university, which includes an enduring commitment to the advancement of women. Since it opened in 1992, the not-for-profit centre has served more than 4,800 clients and played an important role in helping entrepreneurs start and maintain more than 1,500 businesses.
Financial assistance for this project is provided by ACOA through the Women in Business Initiative, which provides non-repayable financial support to not-for-profit business organizations in Atlantic Canada to offer women business owners the resources they need to grow their businesses and compete.
FOR BROADCAST USE:
A new training program will help Atlantic Canada's established women entrepreneurs acquire the tools and knowledge to grow their businesses. Gerald Keddy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of ACOA and to the Minister of International Trade, announced today a Government of Canada investment of more than $286,000 to Mount Saint Vincent University's Centre for Women in Business to develop and deliver a six-month skills-building initiative for women entrepreneurs.
The initiative will provide women entrepreneurs in the four Atlantic provinces with a variety of information resources and support services such as workshops and one-on-one consultations to help them build their business.
Financial assistance for this project is provided by ACOA through the Women in Business Initiative, which provides non-repayable financial support to not-for-profit business organizations in Atlantic Canada to offer women business owners the resources they need to grow their businesses and compete.
-30-
Etienne Allard
Communications
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
506-851-2335
E-mail: etienne.allard@acoa-apeca.gc.ca
Shelley Simpson-McKay
Executive Director
Mount Saint Vincent University - Centre for Women in Business
902-457-6271
E-mail: cwb.director@msvu.ca
