Upload
rosamund-gilmore
View
216
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Unlocking the Potential of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in
Guelph and Wellington Maritza Robertson
Entrepreneurship Supports Action Committee member & owner of Health Insights Inc. Lifestyle Planning
What is the Entrepreneurship Supports Action Committee?
●Improve community supports for immigrant entrepreneurs to foster their success.●Key workplan activities:• Engaging local resources to increase support & awareness of immigrant entrepreneurs• Marketing available resources to immigrant entrepreneurs• Supporting proposals to build new resources
Immigration and Economic Development
●PROSPERITY 2020: Adapt to position Guelph in global marketplace (2010)
●WELLINGTON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY: Initiatives to attract and retain immigrants (2013)
●WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY: Attract diverse immigrants. Develop retention strategy (2013)
●LOCAL LABOUR MARKET PLAN: Attract and retain new immigrants and secondary migrants to rural communities (2014)
Immigration In Guelph Wellington
● Highly educated (business, engineering, health, precision production, education)
● Optimum working age, at the peak of their careers
● Resilient, highly motivated risk-takers
Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Guelph Wellington
●25.3% of immigrants in the county, and 9.2% of immigrants in the city are self-employed
●Self employment accounted for about 5% of all ‘working’ income for immigrants
●Investment in local economy●Links to new markets ●Ability to reach diverse customer base●Innovation
Supporting Immigrant Entrepreneurs
●Training ●Individualized supports●Help accessing financing●Networking ●Support for existing
businesses● Targeted promotion
The Entrepreneurship Supports Committee is…
●Working with Innovation Guelph towards an interactive online map of business support resources.
●Conducting a scan of local, regional, and online resources to improve referrals and access to information for immigrant entrepreneurs.
Ways to support this work●Municipalities can:
Partner on the resource mapping projectCritically examine local environment with
immigration lens●Business support organizations can:
Partner on the resource mapping project Integrate immigrant issues into planning
and services●You can:
Join an action committee
Thank You Ella Henderson, Project
519-822-1260 ext. 2565
For more information about the GWLIP, visit…
guelphwellingtonlip.ca