The town and Chamber are hosting a business mixer this Wednesday in recognition of Small Business Week and the theme “Re-energize Your Business.”
The event is going to be held at The Dock in New Glasgow and will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The event will showcase several local entrepreneurs and feature a special video presentation that celebrates local entrepreneurship.
Presenters will be Melissa Neumann, Owner, In Mint Consignment Boutique; Rob Roy, CEO, Webbuilders Group and Suzanne (McKean) Makin and Tom Makin, Co-owners of McKeans Flowers Ltd.
Geralyn MacDonald, New Glasgow’s Director of Community Economic Development said they wanted to do something that would help bring attention to the importance of small businesses during Small Business Week and thought this would be a great idea.
The theme this year for Small Business Week is “Re-energize your Business.”
She hopes that’s exactly what happens as these entrepreneurs share their stories.
“This event will provide an opportunity to network and to learn about the strategies and techniques that are working for businesses in our region,” she said. “Small Business week is about celebrating the success of our local small and medium sized businesses and acknowledging their significant contribution to the economy.”
There is no charge for the event and all members of the business community are invited to attend.
Neuman said she plans to talk about how she moved from Calgary and chose Pictou County to raise her family, be an entrepreneur.
She’ll discuss some of the challenges but mostly focus on the positives of the community.
“I think it is important for the businesses in the community to get together because it allows us to communicate success stories, share challenges, find mentors within the community and help build a success plan with other businesses,” she said. “Each business I think has its individual challenges, but I think many are current trends seen across business as a whole. We have a strong business spirit in Pictou County and I think working together will help lead us all to a successful revitalization of the community.”
She said there are many challenges to business ownership but she doesn’t believe Pictou County is as bad off as some make it to be.
“There have been a lot of corporate changes recently but I see it as an opportunity for more people to start thinking outside of the box,” she said. “With recent news, there has also come new programs that encourage entrepreneurship. The think or swim program, the Michelin development fund and not to forget the many, many programs NOBL has to offer.”
She says one of the reasons she fell in love with this community is the spirit of the people here.
“Pictou County has this flare for bouncing back and I think this is the start to the movement that will do just that. There are endless possibilities with the web and I think there will be an obvious shift within the next five years,” she said. “Even as a consignment shop I am looking at the web to build on the community business and reach clientele across Pictou County lines.”
