WEC is a not-for-profit organization that encourages women business owners to “Think Big!” about growth and expansion — from start-up and beyond.

WEC was founded in 1992 and since then has become a hub that supports numerous initiatives to support the growth of women owned businesses on the local, national and international level — including research, trade mission, conferences, documentaries, resource manuals and events.

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is the federal government department responsible for helping to build economic capacity in the Atlantic Provinces by working with the people of the region – in their communities, through their institutions and with their local and provincial governments and businesses – to create jobs and enhance earned incomes.

ACOA provides a variety of funding opportunities for small to medium sized businesses, however, keep in mind that it is sector specific.

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is a financial institution wholly owned by the government of Canada. BDC plays a leadership role in delivering financial, investment and consulting services to Canadian small businesses, with a particular focus on the technology and export sectors of the economy.

BDC provides small and medium-sized businesses with flexible financing, affordable consulting services and venture capital. BDC supports the needs of entrepreneurs at every stage of growth.

Business New Brunswick (BNB), the government's economic development department, will work with you by providing services and resources to help you expand your existing business. Whether your business is large or small, rural or urban, we can help you make smart business decisions.
To get you growing, they offer the following...

• Business Consulting Services
• Business resources/tools
• Industry contacts to serve you
• Exporting assistance

Canada Business Service Centre (CBSC) is a full-service business information resource accessible province-wide and free-of-charge and the staff is committed to providing a quality service to you, the clients. The CBSC provides information on federal and provincial programs, services and selected regulations pertaining to your business. 

CBSC has detailed guides to popular business topics and a Reference Library equipped with information such as writing a business plan, locating manufacturers and distributors, researching foreign markets opportunities, and much more.

The Community Business Development Corporations (CBDCs) are a network of autonomous, not-for-profit companies working to meet the needs of small business. There are 10 CBDCs in New Brunswick, each dedicated to the development of small business and job creation in their communities.

The CBDCs assist in the creation of small business and in the expansion and modernization of existing businesses by providing financial and technical services to entrepreneurs.

A primary goal of Post-Secondary Education and Training is to help unemployed and underemployed New Brunswickers secure permanent places in the workforce. There are a variety of programs designed to do just that. But many of these programs also benefit employers like you-with financial incentives to increase your employee base with people who are well trained and job ready.

There are 15 regional Enterprise Agencies in New Brunswick.  The agencies work with the community and clients to:

• Offer business development assistance and counseling
• Support the development of strategic clusters
• Coordinate labour force development initiatives
• Facilitate management training for SMEs
• Support investment and export development activities

If you are starting a business or expanding your business, your local Enterprise Agency can help with one-on-one counseling and financing information.

Canada Business Service Centre (CBSC) is a full-service business information resource accessible province-wide and free-of-charge and the staff is committed to providing a quality service to you, the clients. The CBSC provides information on federal and provincial programs, services and selected regulations pertaining to your business. 

CBSC has detailed guides to popular business topics and a Reference Library equipped with information such as writing a business plan, locating manufacturers and distributors, researching foreign markets opportunities, and much more.
 

The Community Business Development Corporations (CBDCs) are a network of autonomous, not-for-profit companies working to meet the needs of small business. There are 10 CBDCs in New Brunswick, each dedicated to the development of small business and job creation in their communities.

The CBDCs assist in the creation of small business and in the expansion and modernization of existing businesses by providing financial and technical services to entrepreneurs.

There are 15 regional Enterprise Agencies in New Brunswick.  The agencies work with the community and clients to:

• Offer business development assistance and counseling
• Support the development of strategic clusters
• Coordinate labour force development initiatives
• Facilitate management training for SMEs
• Support investment and export development activities

If you are starting a business or expanding your business, your local Enterprise Agency can help with one-on-one counseling and financing information.

The Community Business Development Corporations (CBDCs) are a network of autonomous, not-for-profit companies working to meet the needs of small business. There are 10 CBDCs in New Brunswick, each dedicated to the development of small business and job creation in their communities.

The CBDCs assist in the creation of small business and in the expansion and modernization of existing businesses by providing financial and technical services to entrepreneurs.

Financial Assistance to Industry Program (FAIP) provides funding for capital expenditures and working capital to enable the establishment, expansion or maintenance of eligible industries.

Technical Adoption and Commercialization Program provides funding for direct costs associated with identifying and securing technologies and processes for firms addressing technological innovation and pre-commercial product development needs.

There are 15 regional Enterprise Agencies in New Brunswick.  The agencies work with the community and clients to:

• Offer business development assistance and counseling
• Support the development of strategic clusters
• Coordinate labour force development initiatives
• Facilitate management training for SMEs
• Support investment and export development activities

If you are starting a business or expanding your business, your local Enterprise Agency can help with one-on-one counseling and financing information.

Trade Assistance Programs and Services (TAPS) introduces New Brunswick companies to exporting, and assists in the development of "new" export markets outside Atlantic Canada.

Perhaps you need initial, short-term help paying the wage for an additional employee. Or maybe you operate a seasonal industry and need an extra worker every year for a certain number of weeks. If you are a private sector company, non-profit organization or First Nation Community, there’s help just for you. Employer Wage Reimbursement, part of Workforce Expansion, utilizes temporary wage reimbursements to help you establish permanent employment or annually recurring seasonal jobs.

Canada Summer Jobs is a new initiative of the Summer Work Experience program. It provides wage subsidies to help Canadian employers of not-for-profit, public sector, and smaller private sector organizations with 50 or fewer employees create career-related summer jobs for students between the ages of 15 and 30 at the start of employment.

The initiative is specifically designed to help students having trouble finding summer jobs because of where they live and/or other barriers.

This is one of four programs administered by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) under the First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy (FNIYES). First Nations and Inuit Student Summer Employment Opportunities Program Support skills acquisition through the provision of wage subsidies for short term work experience; assist First Nations and Inuit secondary and post-secondary students to prepare for future entry into the labour market by facilitating access to summer employment; and support First Nations and Inuit students to earn wages for post-secondary financing.

The Student Employment and Experience Development (SEED) program helps students gain employment experience through summer jobs, entrepreneurship opportunities and co-op placements.

Components of the SEED program are:

1. SUMMER EMPLOYMENT PLACEMENTS
2. STUDENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP
3. CO-OP PLACEMENTS

The Science Horizons wage subsidy (up to $12 000) helps businesses hire promising young scientists and post-secondary graduates. Businesses must provide participants with hands-on work experience on environmental projects under the mentorship and coaching of experienced scientists and program managers.

The Summer Work Experience program is an initiative of Youth Employment Strategy. The program helps employers/sponsors by providing them with wage subsidies if they hire secondary and post-secondary students for the summer in a career-related job. There are special provisions for employers who hire students with disabilities.

NRC-IRAP's Internship Program with Innovative Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Collaborative Research Internships Program provide firms with support to hire post-secondary graduates. Both firms and graduates benefit from these programs: firms benefit from the graduate's expertise in a diverse variety of disciplines and graduates gain valuable work experience that will help open the doors for future employment.

Answer your questions about jobs, skills and the availability of workers in local areas across Canada.

Find out if you are ready to begin exporting or find more information that will go into your International Business Plan by checking out these Web sites:

The Wage Gap Reduction Initiative is pleased to present employers with new tools.

Case Study: WHSCC
Recruiting and Retaining Women Workers in Non-Traditional Workplaces  
Resource Guide: How to Recruit and Retain Women Workers in Non-Traditional Workplaces
Recruiting and Retaining Mature Workers in Your Workplace

The CBDCs offers up to $150,000 to individuals and businesses with viable projects that are not able to access loans via traditional lending sources or Government agencies.

The SEB Program allows participants to continue to receive their Employment Insurance Benefits while they are getting their business up and running. Individuals qualifying for this program receive income support and business counselling (group training sessions as well as one-on-one business counselling) following their acceptance into the program.

The Technology Development Fund (TDF) Program has been established to support small businesses in rural Atlantic Canada. This program provides financing up to $150,000 in loans or equity to help overcome obstacles that you may be facing as you try to adopt, utilize and develop new technologies.

This program was launched by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to help address some of the greatest obstacles facing entrepreneurs. The maximum loan under this program is $20,000.

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is a financial institution wholly owned by the government of Canada. BDC plays a leadership role in delivering financial, investment and consulting services to Canadian small businesses, with a particular focus on the technology and export sectors of the economy.

BDC Ask A Professional is a free online question and answer forum with a monthly theme and featured professional from the BDC Consulting Group. 

http://www.bdc.ca/en/business_tools/ask_professionnal/archives/default.htm?cookie%5Ftest=1

At the heart of John C. Maxwell's brilliant and inspiring book is a simple premise: To do well in life, we must first think well. But can we actually learn new mental habits? Thinking for a Change answers that with a resounding "yes"—and shows how changing your thinking can indeed change your life.

Drawing on the words and deeds of many of the world's greatest leaders and using interactive quizzes, this empowering book helps you assess your thinking style, guides you to new ones, and step by step teaches you the secrets of:

 Big-Picture Thinking-seeing the world beyond your own needs and how that leads to great ideas
 Focused Thinking-removing mental clutter and distractions to realize your full potential
 Creative Thinking-stepping out of the "box" and making breakthroughs
 Shared Thinking-working with others to compound results
 Reflective Thinking-looking at the past to gain a better understanding of the future ...and much more.

Have you researched your potential export country and found any specific barriers to entry?

•  Did you know that 4 is an unlucky number in China?

Get export ready! Here are some tips to help you understand your target market and to sell your products and services to The European Union and the United States.

Are you considering exporting your service or product? Are you currently Exporting? Do you want to learn from other successful Exporters? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, you can learn more about enhancing your OWN export success. We have provided you with some of the most frequent Export Tips used by successful exporters. These are free top tips for you, and your business. Get started today, learn from other exporters, minimize your risk and enhance the chances of success and increased profits!

Presented by: ACSBE

The seven attributes to success

One line diagnostic tools

Understanding margin

Vertical and Horizontal analyses

Market Evaluating of a business

Presented by ACSBE

What is Financial Analysis?

What Can Financial Ratios Tell?

7 Categories of Financial Ratios

Significance of Using Ratios

Industry Average Ratios

Agenda:

What is public and media relations
What PR is not
Case study
PR plan: an overview/key messages
PR tactics: Looking at the press release
Case study
Building relationships with the media
Dealing with the media
PR do’s and don’ts
A recap

A Quiz on New Brunswick Women’s History published by the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Behind every successful woman are all the women who came before her.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF NEW BRUNSWICK WOMEN’S HISTORY AND STATUS
Answers are provided at the end.

1) Name the activist writer who wrote on the lives and aspirations of Acadian women and used
the pseudonym “Marichette”, c. 1895.
2) Grace Annie Lockhart was the first woman in the British Commonwealth to graduate from a
university. Name the year and the university.
3) The Women’s Enfranchisement Association was one of the first feminist groups in New
Brunswick and the only group to work solely on what issue?
4) Name the first Canadian-born novelist whose work was published in Canada.