Local business owners learned about services available from the Business Development Bank of Canada at last week’s Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce meeting.
BDC is a crown corporation and a commercial bank that offers fee-for-service consulting and long-term business financing to entrepreneurs.
“Its mandate is to make small- to medium-sized businesses the most competitive in the world,” said Stace Gander, a consulting partner with the bank who addressed the Tuesday, April 26 meeting.
Gander, along with colleagues Kelly Faubert and Jim Park, spoke about services available to small-business owners in the area, including an equipment purchase financing program and various financing, financial management and consulting options.
Park, senior account manager with Aboriginal Banking, discussed the bank’s growth capital program. It provides financing options for aboriginal entrepreneurs, including mentorship, counselling and a provision whereby a portion of interest paid on a loan can be refunded to a community organization or charity chosen by the borrower.
Joint Initiatives
Karen MacKinnon, speaking on behalf of the chamber’s special events and fundraising committee, announced the Hapnot Collegiate Grad Committee will sell geocache coins as a joint fundraising initiative.
MacKinnon said that for every coin sold, the grad committee would receive $3 and chamber would receive $7.
MacKinnon also said Hudbay has agreed to co-sponsor a kickoff barbecue for the Flin Flon Trout Festival on Thursday, June 30, along with the City of Flin Flon and the Flin Flon Lions Club.
Cleaning up
Deb Odegaard, administrator of the Flin Flon Recycling Centre, encouraged local businesses to participate in the 20 Minutes of Magic community clean-up event, which will be held on Friday, May 13.
2016 Census
MacKinnon pointed out that the 2016 census would soon be distributed, and encouraged residents and chamber members to fill it out.
Several members discussed the importance of everyone participating in the census, as census statistics are used to calculate funding for a number of programs and organizations.
“Tell all your neighbours and people that you work with,” said chamber president Dianne Russell.
Flowers to come
Laurence Gillespie, executive director of the Flin Flon Neighbourhood Revitalization Corporation, confirmed that flowers had been ordered for Flin Flon’s Main Street flower displays.
Employment
Theresa Wride, job coach at the SIIT Creighton Work Prep Centre, noted that the centre’s JobFind program, which helps clients secure and maintain employment, is underway.
She said participants are already seeing great success, and encouraged local businesses looking for employees to contact the centre.
