Exhibits cater to small business funding, services | Local News

The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Small Business Solutions Summit last week showcased a variety of organizations that help small businesses through funding programs and services.

Nancy Milani, the chamber’s director of special events, said the concept evolved from a conversation with the chamber president Charla Robinson around the challenges faced by small businesses with tariffs, inflation, the state of the economy, labour shortages and the slow return to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s been challenging for small businesses over the last few years, because they’re short on both financial and people resources,” Milani said, adding that they used the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre’s tech conference model to develop this summit.

“We ended up bringing seven partners together to organize this, all of them who have a stake in helping small businesses.”

The seven organizations partnering with the chamber included the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund, the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC), Paro Enterprise for Women, Thunder Bay Ventures, Northern Ontario Angels, the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).

“These organizations either provide funding programs for the small businesses or provide services for them,” Milani said.

“Our organizations have all worked together collaboratively, but we have never done something of this magnitude. And here we are, we’ve got more than 180 people in the room.”

Milani pointed out that the 30 exhibitors at the Superior Inn and Conference Centre were “very strategically chosen” to exhibit how they can support small businesses and coined the event as a small business “solutions” summit.

“It’s not just a normal trade show,” she said. “We want people to walk away with solutions.”

Milani added that the event also featured speakers and presentations.

“(Artificial intelligence) is a massive topic right now. Everybody’s talking about it, and we have a session where there will be practical tools and tips that you can take away and implement immediately,” she said.

Participants at the summit were issued a passport to collect stamps from the exhibitors. A filled passport, signifying a visit to each exhibitor, earned a chance to win a $100 gift certificate from the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce to use at any of their membership businesses.

“This event is all about trying to support small businesses, and trying to make sure that they have the tools that they need to connect with other small business people,” Robinson said. “Sometimes people feel isolated running a small business, so this is also a way to connect with other business owners, where they can share their challenges and talk about what they’re doing to deal with things.”

Robinson added that it’s also about growing relationships, building connections and learning about what’s in the community to support a small business and the services that are available.

The growing social issues and crime are still a concern, and business owners want to make sure that their employees and customers feel safe, and what they can do to take a proactive approach to the social issues in their area of the city.

“Those conversations certainly are continuing, and we are continuing to work with the (Business Improvement Areas) and the business districts to collaborate and provide shared information so we can learn from each other and see what we can do together,” she said.

“It’s definitely something that’s on the radar.”