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Photo Courtesy Grande Prairie & Chamber of Commerce
By Tanner Smith
Community Events

Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce is celebrating Small Business Week

Oct 19, 2022 | 2:07 PM

Small Business Week started on Monday, October 17, and to celebrate the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce is hosting multiple events throughout the week.

Chamber chair Tertius Genis says some events have already taken place but they are all leading up to one big celebration on Thursday, October 20.

“Small Business Week is set for October 17, to 22, and it started with a Women in Business lunch on October 18. There (was) a Lunch with Rotary on October 19, and then we have the big event, which is the Grande Prairie Awards of Distinction, and that is on October 20.”

Genis says it’s important to celebrate this event, especially in Grande Prairie, which has the third-largest Chamber of Commerce in the province, having 1,100 members and employing 20,000 people across the region.

“This is a celebration of entrepreneurship and small businesses, which is the core of our economy and more specifically also of communities. This year’s theme is ‘Dare to Do Things Differently, Power Up Your Growth’.”

All businesses have taken a massive hit over the last two years due to the pandemic, but still, these local and small businesses manage to provide jobs, feed families, and create opportunities for innovation.

However, Genis says they want to use this week to showcase the areas of need to maintain and uplift the identity of Grande Prairie; being the best place for people to start their own businesses.

“Grande Prairie has always been the one that attracts entrepreneurs to our area, and we hope by emphasizing them this week, we can also address some of our current issues that we have to deal with, such as skilled labor issues. Currently, we have to deal with inflation and we have to deal with supply chain issues.”

Genis adds that they must have a collaborative effort with the City, County, MD of Greenview, and NWP to solve these issues, with Grande Prairie being the sixth most entrepreneurial City in Canada and Northwestern Polytechnic making a conscious decision to mirror the industry in Grande Prairie, they will play a large role in getting back to where businesses were two years ago.

If you are interested in attending any of the Small Business Week events or want more information about the week or the Chamber of Commerce, click here.

by Tanner Smith