District of Carleton North hosts inaugural ‘Business Support Expo’
Several organizations offered local businesses practical support and information at the inaugural Business Support Expo, which was held on March 25 at the R.G. ‘Bun’ Veysey Centre.
The free event brought together 11 different non-profit and government organizations that support businesses. Adeline Appleby from Scotiabank and Brigitte Doiron from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) organized the expo with help from Gabby Mann, Economic and Community Development Manager for the District of Carleton North.
“There is a lot of information out there, but it’s often overwhelming to access and sort through it, Appleby.
Doiron echoed Appleby’s sentiments.
“We have a lot of members [in CFIB] in this area, but they don’t know where to go for support. We wanted to put that together in one spot to make it easy to access,” she said.
In addition to the opportunity to visit and gather information from support organizations, the expo offered two different workshops hosted by representatives from Scotiabank and the Credit Union. These aimed to support entrepreneurs with varying aspects of starting a business, including focusing on a business start-up plan, growth, and succession planning.
Traci Demmons, a representative from BDC who also helped with the expo, said significant support is available for businesses. Speaking on behalf of the organizations in attendance, she stressed that companies do not need to flounder.
“(Don’t) struggle to do it yourself when you can knock on our door, and we can help,” she said, comparing starting a business to raising a child.
“It takes [the support] of a village, and that’s what this [expo] is.”
