Mississauga Board of Trade (MBOT), along with Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), BDO, and Research Innovation Commercialization Centre (RICC), hosted a Small Business Week luncheon event, focusing on informing and inspiring small-to-medium sized businesses to become more competitive and successful through innovation.

The luncheon, "Competitiveness Starts With Innovative Entrepreneurs," was held at International Centre from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Members and guests enjoyed a buffet lunch and chance to network before listening to keynote speaker, Jean-René Halde, BDC President & CEO, and a business panel who shared experiences and success stories by striving to be more innovative.

Ian MacFadden, Vice President, Financing & Consulting, GTA West for BDC and 2011 MBOT Chair, welcomed guests with opening remarks emphasizing the importance of innovation in business and introduced Keynote Speaker, Jene-Rene Halde.

Mr. Halde discussed how innovative entrepreneurs can shape the future of business and their individual companies. Local entrepreneur and panelist, Larry Cox, Polaris Transportation, was praised for innovative thinking, which created new products and business opportunities. More importantly, Mr. Halde said these products and opportunities solved problems people didn't even know they had; a point that was stressed during the keynote speech. Mr. Halde highlighted the importance for business to be proactive; "you can't wait for customers to come to you with problems...you must see it before they do." This was one of the key advantages Steve Jobs had as an entrepreneur said Mr. Halde. "He knew what we wanted before we knew we wanted it."

Robert Cherun of UCIT Online Security Inc. and Christohper Johnsen, BDO Solutions, were also panelists for the event, facilitated by John Switzer, Chair of RIC Centre.

One suggestion for business made by Mr. Halde was to focus on one specialty your company will be good at and become a world-class competitor. Mr. Halde left the event with one quote of advice for everyone, "Think Big, Act Small, Fail Fast, and Learn Rapidly."

Paul Boucher, Associate, BDO, brought the event to a close, commenting on the day's topic: innovation. "What we see is that innovation results in many great successes but also many fails. But if you never try, you won't succeed." Asking the crowd what they had learned, Boucher stressed the importance of taking away the fact that we need to choose to innovate and keep innovation as the core of our business.

For additional information please contact Sheldon Leiba at (905) 273 6151 ext. 27 or visit www.mbot.com.

www.mbot.com gets a new and improved look - Mississauga Board of Trade launches
dynamic new website

Join Mississauga Board of Trade (MBOT) to Experience China from April 23 to May 2, 2012 for a 10-day exciting trip that will expose members and guests to some of China's leading cities (Bejing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou) and sites, experience centuries old customs and history, while witnessing first-hand its emerging economy and expanding role in the global marketplace.

Join other business people and meet new friends from Mississauga for this unique experience that promises to be memorable. Trip will include: round-trip international airfare; 4 & 5 star hotel stays; three meals a day; all in-country deluxe bus transportation; and English-speaking tour guides.

Cost is $2,199 USD (various conditions apply) for MBOT members; non-members add $200 USD. MBOT will be hosting an information session on Thursday, October 27, 2011, 5:30pm-7pm, at Radisson Plaza in Mississauga (175 Derry Road East) where our partner, Citslinc International Tour Operators, will answer all of your questions and familiarize you with details of the trip. This great value tour is also open to the public, offering something unique for everyone, from the business professional to the adventurous traveler.

Mississauga Board of Trade's (MBOT) Nominating Committee is responsible for developing a slate of Directors for election at the Annual General Meeting to ensure that MBOT is governed with excellence and vision from a Board that offers a high and broad talent mix and that represents MBOT's diverse membership. The maximum number of members on the Board of Directors is 20 and members are elected for a 3-year term, to a maximum of two terms. Areas where there are current gaps include information technology and manufacturing. The Board also strives to have gender balance and ethnic diversity. 

Any members interested in serving on the MBOT Board of Directors are asked to complete the following Board of Directors Application Form, that outlines expectations for Board members, and to submit to Nominating Committee c/o Sheldon Leiba, President & CEO, by email sleiba@mbot.com or fax to (905) 273 4937 by
Tuesday, November 1, 2011. 
 
 Click here for Board of Directors Application Form.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Thursday, November 3, 2011
 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
 Mississauga Convention Centre
 75 Derry Road West
 Mississauga, ON L5W 1G3

Event Details:

7:30 a.m. - Registration & Breakfast

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Keynote: Craig Alexander

 Craig Alexander will provide highlights from our Canadian economic forecast, the U.S. and world outlook, as well as a status report on the economic recession. Don't miss this opportunity to hear first-hand about the major economic forces affecting your business.

Sponsored By: TD Commercial Banking and BDC
 

Fees:

MBOT Member - Regular: $40
MBOT Member - Table of 8: $280
Non-Member - Regular: $50
Non-Member - Table of 8: $350

• How do I gain access to capital? Where can I find it?
• How can I manage and foster customer growth as I scale my business?
• How do I start building and managing assets?

Thursday, November 17, 2011
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Mississauga Convention Centre
75 Derry Road West
Mississauga, ON L5W 1G3

Dear Members of the Mississauga Board Of Trade, 

We would like to invite you to a once a year trade show being held at the Mississauga Convention Centre, 75 Derry Rd West, Mississauga on November 17 between 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Our event is free to attend and all visitors should register in advance. Over 70 exhibitors will be on hand to help you solve your manufacturing issues. The exhibitors are world class experts in improving production efficiencies, reducing plant downtime, while maintaining personnel and environmental safety within your plant.

You can expect to see plenty of new products and demonstrations by the experts. Compare multiple technologies at the show all in one day. This is a great opportunity to source new suppliers and technologies. You can attend any of the 4 free technical seminars at the show this year as well.

Please register in advance at www.cpecn.com

or http://www.circ.cpecn.com/register.asp.
To view the event flyer, please click here.

For Exhibitor inquiries call Rob Sommerville or Andy Rowe at (905)770 8077or email rsommerville@cpecn.com or arowe@cpecn.com.

Thank you to all of our new members.
Your support is greatly appreciated!