Help us celebrate our city's unsung small business heroes by voting for who you think deserves a Small Business Week Calgary Award.

Voting is open until midnight October 12th in the following categories:

• BDC Emerging Growth Award
• Breakout Business Award
• Innovation Award
• Customer Service Excellence Award
• Community Impact Award

Head to SmallBusinessWeekCalgary.com to vote for an outstanding small business in each of the categories today!

Small Business Week in Canada was founded by our official partner BDC, and is powered locally by ATB Business.

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Thursday, October 8, 2015
7:30 am – 9:00 am
Hyatt Regency Calgary
700 Centre Street SE

The Calgary Chamber, in partnership with the Calgary Counselling Centre, will host representatives from TELUS and ATB for a conversation on how they are effectively breaking down the barriers of mental illness, and the importance of mental health awareness in the workplace. 

• Ian Wild, Executive VP, ATB Corporate Financial Services
• Dr. Elaine Chin, Chief Wellness Officer, TELUS

$20 of proceeds from each ticket from this event will go towards community mental health initiatives in Calgary.

Join us to learn how you can contribute to positive mental health in your workplace.

As the slowing economy and job shortage continue to make headlines, we are seeing federal leaders promising to make job creation a priority. But, unemployment in our country is not necessarily due to a lack of jobs, it’s due to a lack of skilled talent and mismatched talent for the jobs that are available. 

For the first time in our history, senior citizens outnumber children across the country. If a population with more senior citizens than children is now our reality, finding a new way to build our workforce and match skilled for the jobs that are available is imperative.

Read The Talent Pool's guest blog to understand how Canada's aging population is creating a labour shortage.

Friday, October 16, 2015
8:00 am – 9:30 am
The Beltliner
243 12th Avenue SW

Small Business Week Calgary comes but once a year and to kick off this city-wide celebration of small business, we're heading to The Beltliner for a breakfast bash.

Over waffles and bacon, you will have the opportunity to network with our city's biggest small business stars as everyone gets amped to head into a whirlwind week of events, workshops and awards.

Join us for the best breakfast you'll have all Small Business Week.

Thursday, October 15, 2015
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
University of Calgary, Downtown campus
906 8th Avenue SW

An innovative citizen-led process, the Citizens' Commission on Municipal Infrastructure brings together 36 randomly-selected Calgarians to learn, discuss and recommend how the city should pay for its growing infrastructure needs.

While these sessions are normally closed the public, we're throwing the doors open for one day only so you can join the roundtable. 

Join the members of the Citizens Commission to explore and discuss how Calgary should pay for its infrastructure.

When starting a new business venture, a commonly asked question is, “What business structure is best for me and my business?”

There are a variety of options for conducting business in Alberta, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. To help you choose which is the right fit for your business, this guest blog McLeod Law outlines three common business structures and the potential legal implications of each.

Read about the pros and cons of sole proprietorship, incorporation and partnership for your business. 

Thursday, October 22, 2015
2:00 pm – 9:00 pm
TELUS Spark
220 St. George's Drive NE

The capstone event of Small Business Week Calgary is the expo and awards. Your ticket gets you access to expert led breakout sessions to improve your business acumen, a business expo of 70 exhibitors and 600 professionals to network with, and the city's largest celebration of small business.

Get tickets for your clients, colleagues, and you, while we still have some!

Small Business Week in Canada was founded by our official partner BDC, and is powered locally by ATB Business.

Friday, October 23, 2015
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
charbar - Simmons Building
618 Confluence Way SE

After a long week celebrating Calgary's small business community, we're sending off Small Business Week Calgary 2015 with a bang at charbar.

The finale party is your chance to congratulate the Small Business Week Calgary award winners and network with business leaders, all while commerating a successful week of events and building anticipation for next year. The best part? You get to do all this as you nibble on housemade salami and cured meats, farmers market grilled veggies, local artisan cheese, and made-to-order pasta.

Join us to celebrate the final glorious moments of Small Business Week Calgary 2015.

• Stop pigeonholing your employees with the Myers-Briggs test
• 21 surprising items you should pack for your next business trip
• How to manage exceptionally creative people
• Chamber Member FREDsense joins Singularity University's accelerator program
• Why Canada should roll out the red carpet for skilled foreign workers

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Wednesday, October 21, 2015
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Hotel Arts
119 12 Avenue SW

This event is hosted by McLeod Law as a part of Small Business Week Calgary.

Join McLeod Law for an evening of up close and personal interviews with three diverse Calgary entrepreneurs who will share their stories, insights and lessons learned in navigating the current economic climate and continuing to operate a successful business.

Featuring:

• Megan Szanik, Owner of espy Experience
• Sebastian Sztabzyb, Co-Founder of Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters
• Dan Slisko, President of United Decorating and Crown Paint

Get a peek behind the curtain, and learn what it takes for a Calgary entrepreneur to survive and thrive.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Delta Bow Valley
209 4th Avenue SE

This event is a part of Small Business Week.

The hardest step entrepreneurs take is getting their business off the ground. The second is growing it. Rarely linear, mostly unpredictable, growing a business is often filled with challenges. So how do Canada’s entrepreneurs chart their own course to success?

Join Pierre Cléroux, BDC’s Chief Economist, as he presents BDC’s latest research on the winning strategies commonly used by Canadian entrepreneurs who have successfully grown their business regardless of the industry they operate in, their target market and geographic location.

This Small Business Week, learn what it takes for an entrepreneur to overcome barriers to growth. 

Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation (ABCRC) is a provincially incorporated not-for-profit product stewardship corporation.

Their mandate is to be the agent of the beverage manufacturers to operate a common collection system for registered containers. In this role, ABCRC is responsible for the collection and subsequent recycling of over 55 000 different types of regulated non-refillable beverage containers sold in Alberta.

Learn more at ABCRC.com

Wednesday, October 21, 2015
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Calgary Chamber
600, 237 8th Avenue SE

This event is hosted by Yellow Pages as a part of Small Business Week Calgary.

Making sure your brand is "found" by your customers and potential customers is important to the success of your business, especially during challenging economic times.

In this session you will learn about:

• The new digital consumer
• Search Engine Optimization fundamentals and techniques
• Search Engine Marketing strategies

Join Jeff Wright from Yellow Pages for an exclusive workshop on how to reach more customers by maximizing your digital presence.

The Calgary Chamber creates benefits and value for our members through partnerships with a wide variety of service providers.

As a member of the Chamber, you automatically qualify to receive coverage from the Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance Plan, which offers traditional coverage such as life, health, dental and disability, critical illness and so much more.

Learn how you can take advantage of the comprehensive coverage today.

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 and Nexen for helping to make Calgary a better place to live and work for all.