Tuesday, October 18, 2016
7:00 am – 9:00 am
St. Louis Hotel
403 8th Avenue SE

'Measure up! Shape your future' is part of Small Business Week Calgary.

What's at the root of Canada's much-discussed productivity gap? How is this impacting the bottom line of our small- and medium-sized businesses and their ability to compete? What do the most successful entrepreneurs do to up their game?

Come hear the answers to these questions as Michael Denham, President and CEO of BDC—the only Canadian bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs—reveals the results of a comprehensive study on productivity of 1,500 Canadian business owners. You will also hear about Canada's first ever business productivity benchmarking tool that BDC will be launching this fall.

Join us at the historic St. Louis Hotel for this insightful discussion on productivity in the entrepreneurial business.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016
7:00 am – 9:00 am
Hyatt Regency Calgary
700 Centre Street SE

In order for Calgary to stay competitive and strengthen our economy, we need to take the necessary steps to better engage in world markets through trade, attract elite-level talent and continue to develop the strategic infrastructure to support economic success.

For this to happen, we must have good policies and regulations that support growth. Minister of Municipal Affairs, Danielle Larivee, will provide an update on what the Alberta government is doing to help build more collaborative, prosperous and sustainable municipalities. She will also break down the changes made to the Municipal Government Act and what impact it may have on your business.

Come hear about building collaborative, competitive and sustainable municipalities from Minister Larivee.

To develop Canada’s abundant natural resources, we need to get those products to market. The safest, most environmentally-friendly, least carbon-intensive and most cost-effective way to do that for petroleum products is with pipelines.

One pipeline project on the national agenda right now is in its final approval stages: the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP). TMEP has gone through extensive reviews, multi-layered consultation and overcome a great many hurdles. The final remaining step is to receive parliamentary approval through a vote of cabinet.

At last week's Chamber event, Canada's Natural Resource Minister, the Honourable Jim Carr, confirmed that a final decision will be made on the TMEP by the end of 2016. This means there is an important window of opportunity for us all to support economic growth in Canada and a fellow Chamber member.

Make sure your voice is heard, and take this 5-minute survey before Sept 30th.

Thursday, October 20, 2016
12:30 pm – 9:00 pm
BMO Centre – Hall C
1410 Olympic Way SE

The Small Business Calgary Conference is not just about celebrating small business, but it's also about giving you the chance to learn from some of the greatest entrepreneurial minds in Canada. 

We're excited to announce that this year's keynote speaker will be Michele Romanow. A powerhouse of the Canadian tech industry, Michele has four successful (and innovative) businesses under her belt and one of the newest Dragons on Dragons' Den.

Come hear about growing innovative businesses from one of the most powerful female entrepreneurs in Canada's tech industry.

Do you know a great local business that's doing great things for sport in Calgary? Nominate them for Sport Calgary's Business and Sport Award!

The Chamber is a proud supporter of Sport Calgary. This award, presented at the Celebration of Sport on October 13, recognizes and celebrates a business that provides outstanding and innovative support to sport in Calgary. 

If this sounds like someone you know, get that nomination in by September 15, 2016!

Tuesday, September 20, 2016
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Bow River Barley Mill
201 Barclay Parade SW

There is no doubt that companies get beaten up in a down economy. But, with the right leadership, there are still many businesses in our city that are thriving and even experiencing exponential growth.

But how do they do it? At our next Fast-Growth Champions, get their first-hand advice on everything from strategic decision making process to addressing change management, and leading through exponential growth to handling stress.

You'll hear from:

• Ryan Hoult, CEO, Hatsize Learning Corporation
• Teresa Spinelli, President, Italian Centre Shop Ltd.
• Mike Dunn, Professional Implementer, EOS

Join us for an after-work cocktail, a slice of prawn and pesto flatbread, fantastic networking and inspiring stories.

Thursday, September 8, 2016
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Calgary Chamber
600, 237 8th Avenue SE

As the entrepreneurial leader of a growth-oriented company, it can be hard to find a group of peers in a similar set of circumstances to help talk through the tough stuff. The Calgary Chamber's CEO peer mentoring programs can help you with that.

In this introductory session, learn how an ongoing CEO roundtable could help your business grow quickly and be more successful as you find your tribe and develop a meaningful business network.

Invest in yourself, invest in your company and join a CEO peer mentoring roundtable today.

• Varcoe: Have a tantrum, delay a pipeline hearing
• 3 simple ways to keep your small business fresh
• How to manage manager
• Why you shouldn't store private data in your phone's address book
• 11 ways to deliver negative feedback to creative people

Wednesday, October 5, 2016
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Hyatt Regency Calgary
700 Centre St SE

During times of economic uncertainty, it's important for employers to invest in the right kind of mental health programs to support a mentally healthy workforce.

To kick off National Depression Screening Week, the Calgary Counselling Centre in partnership with the Calgary Chamber will host Dr. David Goldbloom, Senior Medical Advisor at the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health, and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, to discuss how to build a corporate culture that is supportive and open about mental illness.

Join us for this important conversation, and tangible takeaways that you’ll be able to apply in your business.

These days your company website is the cornerstone of your business. As a business leader, it's important to understand some of the essential pieces that keep it running and running well. The quality of your web hosting, for example, affects things like its load speed or its performance during times of heavy traffic.

The simple fact is that web hosting has a lot of moving parts, and they all need to work in harmony to deliver a high quality, uninterrupted service. But there are many options to choose from, such as choosing a low cost host, which may seem like a rational choice. However, that economical choice could harm your business' pressence online.

Here are five questions to consider when having a conversation with your digital team on whether your web host is helping your business or holding it back.

GE has operated in Canada for over 100 years, beginning with the manufacturing facility in Peterborough, Ontario founded by Thomas Edison in 1892. Today, GE Canada has major manufacturing facilities, and sales and service locations across the country.

Calgary is home to the GE Customer Innovation Centre (CIC), where global experts and advanced analytical tools are brought together to explore, analyze and solve business challenges. Here they are focused on developing scalable solutions that can be applied quickly and commercialized for maximum return on investment.

Learn more at GE.com.

When you're running a business, it's the cost of the little things that really starts to add up, especially when it comes to office essentials.

As a Calgary Chamber member, you can save up to 85% on over 7,500 quality office products from Grand & Toy.

Learn how you can take advantage of this exclusive member benefit program.

These Prestige members have shown a substantial and unwavering commitment to supporting the work of the Calgary Chamber. We thank our Prestige members: Suncor, TELUS, CNOOC Nexen, AltaLink, BDC, ATB Financial, Brookfield Residential, Shaw and University of Calgary, for helping to make Calgary a better place to live and work for all.