Small Business Month

3 S M A L L B U S I N E S S M O N T H - S U p p L E M E N T T O T H E W I N N I p E g F r E E p r E S S - W E d N E S d A y , O c T O B E r 2 2 , 2 0 1 4 By Pat St. Germain For the Free Press W orld Trade Centre (WTC) Winnipeg's success with business- to-business networking events is snowballing. Early feedback from participants at Centrallia Manitoba, held Oct. 8 - 9 at the new Club Regent Event Centre and Canad Inns, suggests Manitoba will have a major presence at the third international version of Centrallia in May 2016. "It's been very encouraging, because we've been hearing from small companies and big companies saying that they were very happy … that they have established more contacts and that they will definitely be signing up for Centrallia 2016," says Alberto Velasco, WTC Winnipeg project manager. Modelled on France's Futurallia, the inaugural Centrallia was held in Winnipeg in 2010. Following Centrallia 2012, when more than 700 participants from 35 countries gathered here to forge global business connections, Manitobans reported that they made some of their most valuable contacts with other local businesses. They asked for a Manitoba-specific Centrallia to find opportunities and forge connections on a provincial level, and WTC Winnipeg obliged. Organizers used Futurallia match-making software to set up 30-minute meetings between Manitoba businesses of all sizes during Centrallia Manitoba, which also offered broader networking opportunities, breakout information sessions and a keynote speech from Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) chief economist Pierre Cléroux. Velasco says the event drew more than 325 business leaders from every region of the province, including IT service providers, transportation and engineering firms, management consultants and major employers such as Manitoba Hydro, Magellan Aerospace and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries. "It was very diverse and many of those diverse shops were smaller players in the 20 to 50 employees (range)," he says. "It was a good way to get the business community in its broader sense together with the whole idea of wanting to leverage the connections that they could establish locally." The provincial government is also seeing the value for Manitoba business. Recently, the province announced $1.9 million in funding for WTC Winnipeg over two years, plus $700,000 to organize Centrallia 2016. WTC Winnipeg is a member of the World Trade Centres Association, which represents more than 300 World Trade Centres in nearly 100 countries. Velasco says WTC Winnipeg's mandate is to increase trade, and its mission is to bring the world to Manitoba businesses one connection at a time. "And that applies to any business — the one or two-person operations to the over-500 operations, because going global may mean different things to different people in different companies," he says. It might mean finding information that will prepare them to enter global markets, whether in Europe, Asia, South America or the U.S. Some businesses may want to find partners who have the technological knowledge or contacts to help a Canadian business grow and expand to new markets, or they might find new suppliers who can help lower costs. "Going global, establishing connections in other countries, might mean many different things for businesses, so it doesn't just restrict that to large players." Velasco adds that Centrallia 2016 will be another opportunity to raise the profile of Winnipeg and Manitoba on the world stage, and to show off new facilities, including the revamped RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg and the Club Regent Event Centre. Business InfoCentre is Here to Help The Business InfoCentre (BIC) at WTC Winnipeg, in St. Boniface's historic old city hall at 219 Provencher Blvd., is holding an official launch, on Thursday, Oct. 23 from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. While BIC opened on April 1, the launch is an opportunity to meet the team and get acquainted with the centre's services and resources. B usiness information officers provide guidance for entrepreneurs who need help starting or expanding a business, including information on government grants and financial assistance programs, taxes and regulations, permits and licenses, creating business plans, import and export procedures and registering your business. The centre also offers personalized research services, and it presents more than 100 free seminars each year, in French and English. registrants can attend seminars in person or via an online platform called WebEx. Upcoming seminars organized by WTc Winnipeg and BIc: For more information, email nroche@wtcwinnipeg.com, call 204-289-4068 or visit www.wtcwinnipeg.com. World Trade CenTre Winnipeg means business • Write Your Business Plan: Credit Worthy Financial Statements, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 9 a.m. - noon This seminar is designed to assist new entrepreneurs through the business process. It is part of a series consisting of six sessions. • PST: Intro to Provincial Sales Tax, Wednesday, Oct, 29, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. The provincial Sales Tax is an 8% tax applied to the retail sale or rental of most goods and certain services in Manitoba. Find out when and how to apply it to the sale of your goods and services. • Planning Your Marketing Program, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. Learn how you and your team can develop a plan that everyone can agree to and can execute. • Legal HR Requirements, Thursday, Oct. 23, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. Employers need clarification on issues of human rights, harassment and reasonable accommodation. Learn about updates to legislation on Hr and workplace safety.

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