Get your idea off the ground for Small Business Week September 28, 2018 RICCentre October is Small Business Week across Canada. It’s a time when Canadians celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit that is the bedrock of our country’s economy. BDC, the Canadian bank most closely associated with entrepreneurism across Canada, has been promoting and celebrating Small Business Month for 40 years. In 2018, they underscore the reason for the celebration very clearly with a few statistics. Small business is big in our country. More than 9 out of 10 Canadians work in businesses that employ fewer than 100 workers. Those businesses contribute more than 41% of the value in Canada’s gross national product. Significantly, women lead or co-lead a third of Canada’s small- and medium-sized businesses. The new economy is fostering even greater growth of the small business sector. BDC reports that Canada is producing more than 33,000 new entrepreneurs every year. Supporting this growth is a system that makes it relatively easy to start and succeed in a new venture. In Ontario, that support is clear to see. Taking the lead is the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs, a collaborative network of organizations with a shared mission to help build and grow entrepreneurial businesses. The network includes 17 Innovation Centres and 50 small business centres across the province. In Peel Region, one of the most successful is our RIC Centre. RIC Centre’s focus is to support tech companies by helping you get to market faster. We connect you to the right tools and resources at each stage of your growth. We pay special attention to your need to get in front of investors and customers. Stay tuned for a new program for founders and corporate innovators developing hardware & software solutions for the Internet of Things and advanced manufacturing. Whether you’re working on an idea in your basement or ready to move into a co-working space, we have your back. We work closely with our partners in Peel Region to make sure there is no wrong door. Interested in entrepreneurship and not sure where to start… Subsidized opportunities to hire student talent I-CUBE University of Toronto Mississauga Social innovation Sheridan EDGE Experiential learning Humber Centre for Entrepreneurship Economic development offices provide main street companies traditional support through: Brampton Entrepreneur Centre Caledon Business Innovation Zone Mississauga Business Enterprise Centre So, celebrate Small Business Week with us. Do it by starting a new business or by getting the help you need to grow the one you already have. And when you have questions, come to RIC.
