The Chatham-Kent Economic Development team is marking Small Business Month by organizing a number of local events and seminars.
Small Business Month is celebrated annually across Canada in October. According to Andrew Tompsett, marketing and communications officer with Chatham-Kent Economic Development, they'll be working with the Small Business Centre to make sure it's a month to remember.
“It’s an action-packed month, the first week alone will see events such as Chatham-Kent’s Workforce Planning Job Fair, the Small Business Centre Selling on Etsy event, and Economic Development’s Mentors of the Universe event,” explained Tompsett. “Add to that, we are also working with local school boards to host a Manufacturing Day event for students on Friday"
According to Tompsett, they have several sessions planned to teach valuable skills that can help entrepreneurs grow their business, including bookkeeping and workplace safety. He said they will also be putting a spotlight on building connections in the business world.
“We want to further encourage the entrepreneurial spirit and culture that is so vibrant in Chatham-Kent," he said. "We are bringing a renewed focus on networking to many of our events, something we have heard time and time again from the community."
Tompsett added that they will be working in partnership with WEtech Alliance for a couple of events including two Ladies Learning Code sessions on October 22 at SOAR Innovation where participants will get to develop their HTML and coding skills. Wetech Alliance will also be continuing its ongoing TeCK Tuesday seminar series with a special focus on all things small business.
“WEtech Alliance is hosting a special Practical Steps to Scale Your Business session on October 15 as part of our TeCK Tuesday series,” said Adam Castle, director of venture services with WEtech Alliance. “I am so excited to be in Chatham the third Tuesday of every month to meet with businesses one-on-one to help them with their growth and development needs. I look forward to helping more businesses across Chatham-Kent succeed.”
Residents are also being reminded to keep an eye on social media as the Economic Development team plans to visit several businesses across the municipality over the next few weeks.
“Over the past several months we have visited communities such as Tilbury, Dresden, Thamesville and Wheatley in an effort to highlight amazing things happening across Chatham-Kent and uncover some of the hidden gems,” said Tompsett. “We have everything lined up to do another community blitz in October as well, so keep a watch out for more activity."
Click here for more information about events happening during Small Business Month.
