The One Nova Scotia Coalition will focus on entrepreneurship at its meeting today, March 10, in Halifax.
Halifax startup house Volta, will showcase four startups that have launched since the One Nova Scotia Coalition began its work. The coalition will also hear from a new private sector group that has formed to foster and support local entrepreneurs.
“If we are going to jump-start our economy, we need new businesses — it’s as simple as that,” said Jevon MacDonald, founder of Volta Labs and coalition lead for startups and entrepreneurship. “The right culture has to grow, obstacles need to be torn down and people have to be able to access the support they need to succeed.”
Volta and others, including Mashup Lab, Artpreneurs, local universities and individuals, are building an entrepreneurial network –- inspiring creativity, offering guidance through mentorship and providing access to investors.
Four new, young entrepreneurs benefitting from mentorship at Volta will showcase their products and discuss what they need to succeed with the coalition.
“Nova Scotia is gaining a reputation as an entrepreneurial hotspot. We have everything we need to start and grow thriving businesses — access to world calibre programming, brilliant mentorship and boundless optimism,” said Katelyn Bourgoin, Vendeve founder and CEO. “We just need more of it. It’s possible to build world-class companies here, and create great jobs and economic prosperity in the process, but we must give entrepreneurs every reason to stay.”
The Coalition will also meet with the founders of Youth and Entrepreneurship Skills Nova Scotia (YES N.S.). These leaders have taken the call to action to heart and are actively working to energize and support youth entrepreneurship across the province.
Started and completely funded by experienced, private sector professionals with a track record of success across industries, YES N.S. is exploring programming to enhance mentorship, venture capital funding and entrepreneurial literacy for young entrepreneurs.
“After the Ivany report, a number of us in the business community were brought together by a shared perspective — we can sit around and moan about the challenges the province faces, or we can do something about it,” said Daniel Holland, Beacon Securities and one of seven founders. “Early in our careers, someone had taken the time to share with each of us their experiences and knowledge and it directly helped us succeed. We believe it can make the same difference for other young entrepreneurs.”
The Report of the Nova Scotia Commission on Building our New Economy said there must be more enterprises and the rates of business success and expansion have to improve significantly if the economy is to grow. It called for Nova Scotia to:
— generate 4,200 new business startups per year
— increase per capita venture capital investment to at, or better than, the Canadian average
— double research and development partnerships between business enterprises and Nova Scotia universities and community colleges
— expand firms participating in export trade by 50 per cent
The One Nova Scotia Coalition was formed to develop a 10-year plan for all sectors to work together to move forward the work of the Nova Scotia Commission on Building Our New Economy.
Source: Release
