Friday October 13, 2017 – The Community Economic Development Commission, various City partners, and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) will be celebrating entrepreneurship during BDC Small Business WeekTM. BDC Small Business Week runs from Oct. 15 – 21, as declared by Councillor Shelby Ch’ng this morning at City Hall. 

BDC Small Business WeekTM (SBW) is an annual celebration of entrepreneurship that the Business Development Bank of Canada has been organizing for 38 years.

BDC, along with partners Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC)/Thunder Bay & District Entrepreneur Centre (EC), PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise, Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, Thunder Bay Ventures, SHIFT Young Professionals Network, Partners in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (PIE), Lakehead University Economic Development & Innovation (EDI), Thunder Bay Public Library, and NADF has compiled an exciting calendar of events and activities to recognize our small businesses and their contributions. 

The theme of SBW is: “Future-proof your business: Adapting to technology and demographic trends.”

This year, BDC is inviting Canadian entrepreneurs to learn about key emerging business trends, in particular two forces that are reshaping Canada’s businesses: the evolution of talent and the digitization of the economy. 
“The value of small business is often underestimated because they are small. Yet in reality, the  importance of small business in sustaining our Northern economies is far from small; its massive,” said Michael Nitz, BDC’s Manager, Business Centre Ontario North. “BDC Small Business Week is an opportunity to recognize the hard-work and impact of entrepreneurs and small businesses who continue to provide an important engine of job creation and socio-economic growth across Northwestern Ontario.”

A national calendar of events can be consulted on the SBW microsite at www.bdc.ca/sbw. You can also follow BDC Small Business Week on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter: #SBW2017.

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Contact: Lori Desimone – Senior Client Relationship Officer, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) – 807-346-1795 or LORIJ.DESIMONE@bdc.ca

About CEDC: The CEDC is responsible for business development, retention and expansion, entrepreneurial support, opportunity promotion, and the collection and assessment of key business data. The CEDC receives formal proposals for projects that will contribute to economic development. It responds quickly to new opportunities and initiatives to attract direct financial involvement from the government and private sectors. For more information, visit www.ThunderBayCEDC.ca.

About BDC Small Business WeekTM: BDC Small Business WeekTM is a Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) trademark whose origins date back to 1979 when BDC business centres in British Columbia’s Lower Fraser Valley pooled their resources to organize a week of activities for entrepreneurs. This first event and the one that followed in 1980 were so successful that BDC officially launched BDC Small Business WeekTM across Canada in 1981. The initiative was quickly adopted by Canada’s business community. In 2016, close to 300 activities across Canada attracted around 15,000 business people. This BDC flagship event celebrates entrepreneurship at the local, provincial and national levels.

About BDC: BDC is the only bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs. It promotes Canadian entrepreneurship with a focus on small and medium-sized businesses. With its 118 business centres from coast to coast, BDC provides businesses in all industries with financing and advisory services. Its investment arm, BDC Capital, offers equity, venture capital and flexible growth and transition capital solutions. To find out more, visit bdc.ca.