Setting your business up for success at business Summit 2016

With a vision statement of strengthening the business community and a mission that recognizes the Chamber’s role as the leading organization providing business advocacy, networking and education for our members and the community at large, we are proud to host Business Summit 2016.  The 1/2 day professional development event is full of great learning and networking opportunities.   

The event kicks off with a keynote on Scaling Up with Peter Lawler, Executive Vice President, BDC Advisory Services and centre around a recent BDC study titled: “The Scale Up Challenge: How are Canadian Companies Performing?”  With just over one million businesses in Canada and 99.8% small or mid-sized firms, the BDC study asks how many are ascending to a higher level?  What are the barriers to transitioning to another category and what are the main obstacles to growth?  An interesting finding is that very few small businesses are growing to have at least 100 employees and moving into the mid-sized business category.  With many of the new jobs in our economy anticipated to be created through our smaller businesses, understanding the pathway and how to make it a smoother transition would be beneficial.  

After the keynote breakfast, participants at the Summit will move into the workshop and speed consulting phase of the program.   

The workshops are panel discussions with a significant amount of time for questions and answers.  
In the first grouping Peter Lawler of BDC will join a panel with Marty Laskaris, The Publican House Brewery and Cam Taylor of OUTDOORsmart! to talk about the finer points of Scaling Up and how they have approached this challenge.   

The concurrent workshop at 9:00 am is all about effectively Telling Your Business Story with a discussion featuring Sofie Andreou of Sofie Andreou & Associates, Jeffrey Macklin of Prevail Media & Design, and Jennifer Garland of The Mane Intent.  

In the second workshop block, Melanie Kawalec from City of Peterborough, Cathy Mitchell from PDI and Scott Murison of Wild Rock Outfitters Inc. will be talking about the Business Case for Going Green. 
Assessing Your Digital DNA is the fourth workshop available and will feature a discussion around content marketing, being found on Google and mobile technology with Michael O’Farrell from The Mobile Institute, Alysha Dominico from Tangible Words and Ken Pipher of PMD.  

This solid line up of local business leaders ready to answer your questions shows there is something for everyone.
 
NEW to the Summit this year is Speed Consulting with seven Chamber members ready to sit down with Summit participants for a 10-minute speed consulting session.  As a Summit participant, you will have the opportunity to meet with experts on trade marking, insurance, business start up and resources, energy conservation, content marketing, risk and financial strategy and learning about the Fast Start program for student entrepreneurs.  

The Summit will wrap up with lunch and a conversation with City of Peterborough CAO Allan Seabrooke.  How does he see the future of Peterborough?  What are some key decisions on the horizon? 

With all this information and connections at your fingertips in just a half a day, the Business Summit is great way to kick start the planning and goal setting for your business in 2017.   See you there!
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To Register: peterboroughchamber.ca/business-summit-2016