A skills-building initiative designed to help Atlantic Canada's women entrepreneurs achieve their business goals will get underway later this month. Mount Saint Vincent University's Centre for Women in Business will deliver the second round of "Advance" – a training program dedicated to business growth for women-owned businesses in Atlantic Canada.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is contributing nearly $385,000 under its Women in Business Initiative to deliver the Advance program. The program will be offered in five locations throughout the region, starting this spring in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, and continuing this fall in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Sydney, Nova Scotia; and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
"The Government of Canada, through ACOA, is committed to helping Atlantic Canada's women business owners grow and compete in the marketplace," said the Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency). "Our contribution to this training program will provide women entrepreneurs with the information, advice and training they need to move their businesses to the next level of growth."
The Advance program which targets women business owners who have been in business for five or more years, features a series of workshops that help develop the participants' "advanced" business skills. The workshops will focus on topics ranging from financial decision making, to internet marketing, to using innovation as a catalyst for growth.
In addition, program participants will benefit from 25 hours of one-to-one consulting, with the creation of a business growth action plan as a key objective. The plan will draw on the knowledge gained in the workshops and will identify challenges, opportunities and next steps.
"The Advance program is a testament to the success and impact of Atlantic women-owned businesses," says Centre for Women in Business executive director Shelley Simpson-McKay. "The program participants will gain the tools and resources necessary to implement growth strategies in their businesses, continuing their vital contribution to the economy."
"Advance" builds on the success of a pilot program, which was also developed and delivered by the Centre for Women in Business across Atlantic Canada in the spring and fall of 2008, with the financial support of ACOA. The Centre is working with the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs, the Prince Edward Island Business Women's Association, the New Brunswick Association of Community Business Development Corporations and the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, to deliver the program throughout Atlantic Canada. TD Canada Trust Small Business Banking is a private sector financial contributor for this project.
Past participants like Faith Drinnan, owner of the Oyster Group, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, said the program gave her the information and tools she needed to "confidently go forward" in her business. "In these challenging times, it is wonderful to have a network of seasoned and savvy women entrepreneurs to call upon. I would not have that without the Centre for Women in Business' Advance Program."
Gina Pecore, Myx Meeting Centres Inc., St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, was very appreciative to have had the opportunity to work with such a dynamic group of women business owners. "Perhaps the best thing was the rapport that developed between the other participants. We learned so much from each other."
Kim Murphy, of Kim Murphy Design Works in Shediac, New Brunswick, said the program will help her to grow her business. "I have been in business for more than a dozen years. The Advance sessions showed me how to further build on my strengths and experiences. I believe the analyses and insights I received will help me be even more successful in the years to come."
Cora Lee Dunbar, President of ABI Business Services Inc. in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, said the program allowed her to concentrate on the needs of her business. "It gave me insight and empowered me to move ahead. I look forward to more programs of this nature."
The Centre for Women in Business, located at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, is a not-for-profit University Business Development Centre dedicated to helping entrepreneurial women address competitive challenges and seize market opportunities by providing them with support, resources and training. Since opening in 1992, the centre has served more than 6,000 clients.
FOR BROADCAST USE:
A skills building initiative designed to help Atlantic Canada's women entrepreneurs achieve their business goals will get underway later this month. Mount Saint Vincent University's Centre for Women in Business will deliver the second round of "Advance", a training program dedicated to business growth for women-owned businesses in Atlantic Canada.
The Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) said ACOA's contribution of nearly $385,000 toward this training program will provide women entrepreneurs with the information, advice and training needed to move their businesses to the next level of growth.
The Advance program is tailored for women business owners who have been in business for five or more years and features two main components: workshops and one-on-one consulting. The program will be offered in five locations throughout the region, starting this spring in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, and continuing in the fall in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Sydney, Nova Scotia; and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
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INFORMATION:
Richard Gauthier
Communications Coordinator, Parliamentary Affairs and Media
Relations
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
506-851-6773
Richard.Gauthier@acoa-apeca.gc.ca
Krista Blaikie Hughes
Communications Project Manager
Centre for Women in Business
Mount Saint Vincent University
902-457-5538
Krista.Blaikie.Hughes@msvu.ca
