3rd Annual “Bridges To Better Business” on January 23, 2013

We are pleased to announce January 23, 2013 as the date for our Third Annual

Bridges To Better Business

This Bruce County business event of the year is titled

Creative Solutions: Attracting and Retaining Quality Employees

Bridges to Better Business is a forum where business owners, both new and more experienced, exchange ideas and share advice. This year’s event will encompass a panel of four local business owners sharing their challenges and successes with hiring, training and retaining employees.

The evening begins at 5PM for the Social Hour with a light supper and a cash bar. The formal program begins at 6PM and runs until 8PM.

Attendees will be invited to continue to network and visit the employment related agency representatives.

For more information call our office at 519-832-2082 or visit our website’s Events page

 

Meet the Mentors – Erin Zorzi

 “Meet the Mentors” is our blog on the professionals who volunteer their time to help our Summer Company Entrepreneurs build their dream company. These professionals have diverse backgrounds and offer unique insight into overcoming obstacles that all start-ups face. They are the reason that the Summer Company program is so successful – it’s about real students getting real help to make real money. This series is meant to let students understand who will be there to help them if they get accepted into the Summer Company Program in Bruce County.

 Erin Zorzi 

Erin is a long time resident of Port Elgin but has lived in a variety of places other than Ontario, including Manitoba, Pakistan and Taiwan.  She is married for 34 years to Paul who recently retired from Bruce Power. They have 2 children (both married), and Erin is also a grandma (if you can believe it).

 Formerly, Erin was the Branch Manager of Meridian Credit Union. She is now retired from banking, but is keeping busy with Zorzi Consulting, a company she and her husband started to provide variety of support services for seniors.

 Erin still finds time to volunteer as the Vice Chair for the Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation, Treasurer of Faith Lutheran Church, and is involved with the Rotary Club of Port Elgin. She also currently sits on the Business Advisory Committee for the Business Enterprise Centre of Saugeen Shores.

 A summer company mentor for three years now, Erin enjoys the experience immensely.  She is amazed at how thorough Summer Company students are to have thought through everything – from the viability of the concept, to start-up costs, to marketing, to procuring inventory.

 She finds it incredible to watch these young people take their plan and bring it to life as a business, placing a huge responsibility squarely on their own shoulders.  To assist them to work through their challenges and celebrate with them their successes is an honour that Erin treasures.

 Erin also believes that the whole program is mutually rewarding for the student, the mentor, and business in Ontario; it fosters appreciation of business ownership whether the student chooses to become an entrepreneur or chooses to work for one.

Meet the Mentors – Mike Bolton

 “Meet the Mentors” is our blog on the professionals who volunteer their time to help our Summer Company Entrepreneurs build their dream company. These professionals have diverse backgrounds and offer unique insight into overcoming obstacles that all start-ups face. They are the reason that the Summer Company program is so successful – it’s about real students getting real help to make real money. This series is meant to let students understand who will be there to help them if they get accepted into the Summer Company Program in Bruce County.

Mike Bolton

Mike Bolton is married to Abby his partner for 24 years and has two grown children. He enjoys running, hiking, golf, reading and travel.

Mike is a Chartered Accountant practicing in Port Elgin. He is a partner in the National accounting firm BDO Canada LLP. BDO has offices across Canada in centres both large and small. BDO’s main market for services is small business owners.

Mike grew up in Walkerton and moved to Port Elgin in 1990 to take over the BDO accounting office. He deals with small business owners by helping them organize and run their business as well as assisting with income tax planning and return preparation. Mike also runs a large auditing practice that does financial audits for non-profit organizations as well as small businesses.

Mike spends time helping BDO Canada LLP stay current on the latest accounting and auditing issues. He is one of 8 BDO partners from across Canada that sits on a steering committee to determine how professional standards are applied at BDO. Mike also sits on the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants AcSB’s Private Enterprises Advisory Committee that helps sets accounting standards for small businesses across Canada.

Mike assists the Summer Company participants by assisting with accounting and tax related questions as well as bringing general business knowledge to the discussions.

Mike enjoys helping the students because the fresh ideas they bring to discussions. Their enthusiasm they show in running their businesses rubs off and reminds him how much fun it is to learn something new.

Meet the Mentors – Tony Sheard

 Meet the Mentors” is our blog on the professionals who volunteer their time to help our Summer Company Entrepreneurs build their dream company. These professionals have diverse backgrounds and offer unique insight into overcoming obstacles that all start-ups face.  They are the reason that the Summer Company program is so successful – it’s about real students getting real help to make real money.  This series is meant to let students understand who will be there to help them if they get accepted into the Summer Company Program in Bruce County.

Tony Sheard

Tony was born in Yorkshire, England and he’s married to Sylvia and has one daughter. Sylvia is a Breast Cancer Survivor and since 2009, Tony has supported her Team along with the infamous Pretty Boys that have raised over $82,000 for  Breast Cancer related charities through Sylvia’s Ladies Day Out ‘Pretty in Pink’ initiative.

Tony is now retired but during his career he’s worked within the power generation sector and draws on experience working in the UK, North Africa, USA and in Canada since September 2000. He was a senior manager with strengths as both an HR professional and general manager with particular expertise in the areas of compensation, benefits, pensions, collective bargaining, recruitment, customer service, due diligence and business planning.

Since retirement, Tony’s become active in the community, being currently President of Southampton Rotary Club and the Vocational Services Chair for Rotary District 6330, a crew member and guide for the Marine Heritage Society on Chantry Island Tours, a member of Southampton Art School, Saugeen Shores Probus Club, and the Southampton Residents Association. In July he will take on the role of Assistant Governor for Area 1 of the Rotary District. 

He’s been a mentor on the Summer Company Program as part of Rotary’s vocational service program for the past 3 years. He thoroughly enjoys providing support and assistance to the young people on the program from his extensive business background.

He takes comfort from watching the participants from a wide range of backgrounds with diverse business ideas mature and increase in confidence through the short life of the program. He particularly enjoys the enthusiasm and vitality that the young people bring to solving problems to make their businesses thrive.

Program Helps Small Businesses Hire an E-Business Intern

The Small Business Internship Program seeks to improve the competitiveness of SMEs (small/medium enterprises) by supporting businesses to actively market on-line and improve their competitiveness with e-business practices and technologies.

Your firm will receive financial support towards the employment of post-secondary students who will work on e-business projects. The Government of Canada will reimburse up to 75% of the eligible wages and related expenses such as statutory employee benefits, to a maximum of $10,000. Your firm is responsible for covering other expenses such as fringe benefits and overhead costs. Support will be available for twelve weeks.

PLEASE NOTE: Funding is limited and based on a first-come first-served basis so apply ASAP

For more information, please follow the link to Industry Canada’s website
 http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/sbip-pspe.nsf/eng/home

or contact the Business Enterprise Centre for general enquiries 519-832-2082

Going Global Workshop: An Introduction to International Trade – March 1st in Hanover

There will be a series of seven different workshops (please see flyers).

The first one (An Introduction to International Trade) will be held in Hanover, Kitchener and Thunder Bay.

Target audience:
The workshop is tailored to small and medium companies (SME). The workshops are sponsored by the Wood Manufacturing Council and the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry. Preference will be given to participants of the woodworking industry, however we believe we have enough seats to accommodate every interested company.

Companies, considering starting to export in the near future, as well as companies with some export experience will benefit from this workshop. The content of the workshop is industry neutral, however some of the case studies are from the woodworking and furniture industry.

The content of the Introduction course will help owners, middle management, sales, shipping and finance staff to get a better understanding and will help preventing costly mistakes.

After participating in the introductory course companies can decide on the more detailed courses held in Toronto/ GTA.

When and where
The Workshop will take place
on March 1, 2012, 8am (for more details see website/registration)
at the P&H Recreation Centre
at 269 7th Ave Hanover, Ont.

Cost / Discount for Bluewater Wood Alliance Members:
The workshop is substantially subsidized! The fee for the workshop is $50, taxes (Certified International Trade Professional presenter, 100-plus-page takeaway references tool and breakfast included).

Bluewater Alliance members receive 25% discount. Additionally, a second attendee from a member company will receive 50% off.

To register for the workshop, go to www.wmc-cfb.ca/goingglobal/on, ‘Create an account’ (about one minute), then ‘Register’ for the workshop in Hanover. You will have a choice of payment through PayPal by credit card or by cheque.

GG Intro Contents

GG-Hanover-flyer

Canada Summer Jobs Now Accepting Employer Applications

If you’re thinking of hiring a student this summer and need help with funding, the Canada Summer Jobs program is now accepting applications. The application deadline is February 29th and can be submitted online.

NEWS RELEASE – GOVERNMENT OF CANADA LAUNCHES CANADA SUMMER JOB PROGRAM

OMAFRA Connects – February 2012

The latest edition of OMAFRA Connects is now available:

2012-02-01 – OMAFRA Conencts

Information Session & Registration Night for Courses in Kincardine

The Lake Huron Learning Centre (LHLC) in partnership with Fanshawe College is holding an information session and registration night for two courses on Wednesday, February 1.

At 6:30 p.m., the Office Administration Certificate Program info session will be held, followed at 7:30 p.m. by an info session on the Project Management Certificate Program.

Both sessions take place at the LHLC at 385 Queen Street in Kincardine. Pre-registration is required.

For contact and other info, check out the attached flyer below:

LHLC – Office Admin and Project Management Information Session

Canada Summer Jobs 2012

Interested in hiring a student this summer? Canada Summer Jobs is a Government of Canada initiative that provides funding to help employers create summer job opportunities for students. It is designed to focus on local priorities, while helping both students and their communities.

The application process starts on February 1, 2012 and the closing date is February 29, 2012. For more info, check out the link below.

Canada Summer Jobs 2012