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CAPITAL IDEAS UPCOMING M AY 1 2 : R E V: S U STA I N . ACCELERATE . THRIVE . A half day of resources, learning opportunities and networking targeted at Calgary’s small and medium sized business owners ■ Where: University of Calgary, Dining Centre (169 University Gate N.W.) ■ When: 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. ■ Admission: $29 to $39. Tickets at calgarychamber. com
FINANCIAL POST
CA LG A RY H E R A L D
COMMUNITY QUESTION
WHAT ARE YOUR BUSINESS-RELATED PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT? Entrepreneurs discuss what they want to see after election day “What we would love to see for business-related priorities from the next provincial government is more support for start ups. There are some good programs for the already established business that wants to expand their operations, but these are lacking for startups. Successful startups are vital to the economic growth of our province and country. Every business is vulnerable in the startup phase; we need solid mentorship programs more than anything else.”
M AY 1 9 : MAXIMIZING OPPORTUNITIES IN A GROWING GLOBAL MARKETPLACE A discussion with Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz on how producers, business and government can work together to maximize opportunities ■ Where: Hotel Blackfoot (5940 Blackfoot Tr.) ■ When: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ■ Admission: $69 to $89. Tickets at calgarychamber. com
Brenda Mahoney, owner of Vin Gogh Paint & Sip Studio, vingogh.ca
“This is the time to make change for a sustainable future in both the systems of government and the policies that shape the economic and social infrastructure of Calgary for the next 20 years. They need to get public services and healthcare organized to deliver efficiently … and get the school-development system organized and inline with expected demographic growth and community development. They also need to get serious about the development of entrepreneurs, family businesses and sector development other than oil and gas. This is the majority of Canada’s GDP, and a high portion of that resides in Alberta.”
For more great events, visit capitalideascalgary.com/ calgaryevents.
Len Nanjad, partner at COREinternational Inc., coreinternational.com
“Support from our government encouraging the use of local resources is my top request of the provincial government. I would not expect them to increase or change what they outright give to small or new organizations, but I think they can further support local small businesses in their efforts to hire and utilize local resources by means of breaks in taxes, for example. There are so many people in Alberta that could provide support work to businesses, stay-at-home parents who cannot afford daycare, or the disabled who are unable to gain employment or even leave the house. They can do so much for small businesses, and this would re-inject cash back into our own economy.”
C A P I TA L QUESTION
How do you manage seasonality in your business?
Bernadette Bosse, president and CEO of dms360 Ltd., dms360.ca
Matthew Protti, co-founder and CEO of BlackSquare Inc. (blacksquare. ca), says the next provincial government should continue to make strides towards diversifying Alberta’s economy. “Additionally, there should be a focus on the requirements of small businesses, such as cutting red tape, lowering small business taxes and providing the infrastructure to allow Albertan companies to compete internationally. These steps will allow for Alberta-based companies to be competitive on the global stage, continue to create new jobs and opportunities for Alberta workers, and smooth the historical boom/bust business cycle in Alberta.” PHOTO BY: DAVID GLUZMAN
With winter now melted away and summer on the horizon, some businesses are gearing down while others are ramping up. With this in mind, Wellington Holbrook, executive vice-president of ATB Business, is curious to hear from you: How do you manage seasonality in your business? You can answer the question in two ways: Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member or visit capitalideascalgary.com. We’ll publish the best answers, along with your business name and website address, on May 7. For more great information on what business owners in Alberta think, visit atb.com/businessbeat.
“Alberta, and Calgary in general, are traditionally great places for small to medium sized businesses to set up shop and thrive. It is imperative that the next provincial government keep the entrepreneurial spirit high by keeping red tape to a minimum and corporate taxes low.”
Brad Celmainis, founder of Brad Celmainis Consulting, bradcelmainis.com
“In short, Alberta should work towards becoming a more attractive Canadian destination for high-tech industries. This should be a plan, and resulting actions that include all facets of building up these industries in our region including education, investment communities and attracting larger established businesses. Our current portfolio of tech-based companies also need more national and international support if they are to continue to successfully grow in this region. We are currently doing very little to interest these types of companies to remain in Alberta. Economic diversification is a key driver to helping stabilize the economy in Alberta.” Bruno Steppuhn, operations director at Solid Site Inc., asolidsite.com
“I would like to see the next provincial government enable equity crowd funding in Alberta, and increase the limit from $1 million to $2 million for exempt market shares without having to offer a full offering memorandum for opportunity development co-operatives. This would allow for more efficient local investing and would increase the scale and impact for local business development.” Colin Smith, founder and community builder at Green Event Services Inc., greeneventservices.ca
“In 1976, Alberta established the Heritage Savings Fund and it’s now worth $17 billion. I’ve also lived in Norway, and like Albertans, Norwegians have a small population and are heavily dependent on oil revenue. In 1990, Norway established a sovereign oil fund that is now worth over $1 trillion CDN. If I were to ask for one thing from the new provincial government, it would be to stop the roller coaster. Set up a program for the Alberta Heritage Fund that cannot be changed when governments want to raid it. Save our energy money and put effort into growing it. I want to see consistency in our budgeting and planning processes for me, my family and my business. We all know that oil and natural gas prices go up and down, but we can plan for these cycles to be more resilient in the future.” Lynette Lefsrud, founder and president of GridStone Marketing, gridstonemarketing.com
T O D AY ’ S T H E D AY The next Capital Ideas panel discussion is on today! Join us at noon to hear Matthew Protti of Blacksquare Inc. Kevin Davies of Hop Compost and Brenda Mahoney of Vin Gogh Paint & Sip Studio discuss funding their businesses at the Glenbow Museum. There’s still room left if you have not registered yet. Visit capitalideasyyc4.eventbrite.com to attend.
These answers are in response to a question posed by Adam Legge, president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce (calgarychamber.com) as part of our Community Question series. Here’s his take: “I talk to business owners every day. The priorities and concerns I hear from them are what I’m worried about, too — economic growth, job creation, competitiveness and skills development. I want to
Business owners helping business owners
make sure that businesses in this city are able to not only survive tough economic times, but have the right conditions to thrive and
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grow. For that, we need a fiscally responsible government that
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maintains a competitive tax structure; one that drives growth and
your biggest challenges
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innovation. We also need a skilled workforce that meets the demands of industry, which our government can assist by supporting programs to up-skill our workforce. Finally, my hope for the next
S I G N U P AT :
provincial government is to ensure we get our budget right.”
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To submit a business-related question of your own, visit capitalideascalgary.com/ask.