‘Flourish and grow’: Manitoba entrepreneurship gets $4M boost from Ottawa

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This article was published 25/06/2024 (657 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Entrepreneurs in several Manitoba communities will receive nearly $4 million in funding to help support economic development in the province.

Winnipeg MP Dan Vandal, minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, announced more than $3.9 million for six projects Tuesday.

“Every Canadian deserves a fair shake and an opportunity to make a good life where you can afford all necessities in order to get ahead,” said Vandal, who made the announcement at Red River College Polytechnic’s Exchange District campus in Winnipeg.

“Our government is working with entrepreneurs to help them flourish and grow in the future.”

The $3.9-million investment will provide training and mentorship, assist entrepreneurs to take risks and help businesses grow, said the Liberal MP (Saint Boniface—Saint Vital).

The organizations that will receive funding are: Westman Immigrant Services (Brandon); Swampy Cree Tribal Council Inc. (comprised of eight First Nations in northwest central Manitoba); Atoskiwin Training and Employment Centre (Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation); National Indigenous Residential School Museum (Portage la Prairie); RRC Polytech; and Indigenous Tourism Manitoba (Winnipeg).

Westman Immigrant Services will use the government funding to develop an entrepreneurship hub to support newcomers in western Manitoba, said Enver Naidoo, chief executive officer.

The Westman region has seen unprecedented levels of immigrant and international student growth in recent years, Naidoo noted, with newcomers now constituting 20 per cent of Brandon’s population.

The hub will connect newcomer entrepreneurs with training, coaching and other supports.

“This initiative will also support an ecosystem to connect immigrant entrepreneurs and establish local businesses, which could be a rising tide to lift all boats,” Naidoo said. “These investments will have positive generational impact for people, for community and for our economy.”

RRC Polytech will use the $1.5 million it’s receiving from the federal government for Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah, a new Indigenous entrepreneurship acceleration and incubation initiative it unveiled Tuesday.

The initiative will help Indigenous students start their own businesses as they graduate from RRC Polytech’s entrepreneurship-based program: Social Innovation and Community Development.

It will connect them with resources and expertise focused on process, people, leveraging existing capacity and addressing relevant recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s calls to action.

It will also support established Indigenous entrepreneurs or band-operated businesses looking to pivot, scale up or enter new joint ventures.

“We have been helping entrepreneurs take flight at RRC Polytech for years … and we are so excited to share our expertise with the next generation of Indigenous makers and innovators,” said Jamie Wilson, vice-president, Indigenous strategy, research and business development.

Following Vandal’s announcement, Manitoba Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable said the provincial government will invest $773,000 in Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah.

Amy Jackson, an entrepreneur from Opaskwayak Cree Nation who started the merchandise line Nativelovenotes, will lead Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah.

“What I’m looking forward to is seeing entrepreneurs’… incredible ideas come to life and (seeing them) really believing in not only their own ideas and businesses but in themselves as well,” Jackson told the Free Press.

Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah (Cree for “this is where you do it correctly”) will be introduced by RRC Polytech in the fall and run for five years.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca