Local business owners left the Bonnyville and District Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting with a world of knowledge about programs available within the community.
On Thursday, March 23, Kara Johnston of Alberta Innovates, and Glenys Reeves from the Regional Business Accelerator, informed Bonnyville and area businesses of what they have to offer in the Lakeland.
Alberta Innovates provides support and connections to resources and personnel across Alberta to businesses in need of a hand. For example, a business owner looking for a specialist in a specific field could contact the company for help in connecting with that resource or specialist.
Johnston is the technology development advisor for Alberta Innovates, and stressed on the importance of innovation, and how most people relate innovation to tech invention.
“Innovation is so much more than that. It's also product improvement and integration. It's taking your product and developing it further and developing it for the markets.”
She added, it's also about transitioning the use of products to better suit other markets, reinventing business models and thinking about collaboration and process improvement.
Alberta Innovates helps businesses at all stages, from start-ups looking for some insight, to long-standing businesses interested in revamping their products and services.
Johnston does this through what she calls the three Cs: coaching, community and capital.
Coaching is what Johnston does most, by offering helping entrepreneurs by offering a variety of services across a number of industries at all stages of their business development.
“I am able to put them in touch with other parts of the Alberta Innovates system. Maybe they need a researcher, maybe they need access to a 3D printer that can work with metals… I am able to provide those links between service providers to not only what is available in the region, but across the entire province.”
One of the programs available locally is the Alberta Entrepreneurship Incubator Program, which is available for start-up businesses in the community.
The province of Alberta launched the two-year, $10 million program a few months ago as a way of fostering economic diversity in Alberta, by supporting start-up entrepreneurs, creating jobs, and forming partnerships across the province.
“The whole point of this program is changing the culture, and changing how we view entrepreneurship and start-ups,” expressed Johnston.
In 2015, they contacted all of the businesses that benefitted from Alberta Innovates funding. In total, 401 new jobs were created in Alberta, 80 per cent of which were full time. Eighty-one per cent of the jobs created were outside of the energy sector.
For every dollar of Alberta Innovates funding that was received, a company saw $4.80 in growth.
Johnston added, that same year, 246 new prototypes were created, and 184 products were launched to market with the help of Alberta Innovates funding.
Using their newly created website, connectica.ca, Alberta Innovates is connecting small to medium enterprises to business providers across the province.
“It gives you access to and lets you list your programs, services and events. It helps you make those connections so that you are able to have stakeholders in other areas of the province,” explained Johnston.
Reeves works as the executive director of the Regional Business Accelerator (RBA), and through this program works closely with Johnston to offer programs and opportunities to businesses via the Regional Innovation Network (RIN) for east-central Alberta.
The RBA coaches new businesses in the area, by offering management assistance, education and information, technical help, and vital support services to new businesses. They also offer networking resources and financial advice.
“If people don't get help when first starting… there is a 20 per cent chance that they are going to survive,” Reeves said about why the RBA was formed.
To date, the RBA has met one-on-one with 467 businesses to either help incubate or accelerate their business, offering free advice and networking opportunities to business owners.
The RBA does not charge for their services, and uses a four-step model to ensure you are ready to take the next step in creating your business.
“We put you through a brainstorming exercise to make sure you have all of the pieces you need to actually start to develop your business plan. Then we start to work on your business plan with you, so by the time a new entrepreneur comes in and is ready to go out for funding, they have a solid business plan they can go forward with,” explained Reeves.
The company is currently working with Inclusion Alberta, and will soon start offering their services to persons with intellectual disabilities.
Reeve noted, “We're partnering with them to ensure that there are people who would like to start a new business, we can provide the right supports.”
For more information on the RBA, visit their website at smallbusinessinformation.ca.
