Belleville Chamber of Commerce celebrates Small Business Week

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As Quinte celebrated Small Business Week, an event led by the Belleville Chamber of Commerce at Loyalist College on Wednesday hosted over 50 small business and organization representatives in the second annual “Not a Trade Show” Business Expo.

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This event brings together the concept of speed networking and the “elevator pitch” where each organization has three minutes to share their story with an audience to build recognition and awareness of their product/service and brand.

Rounds of small groups start on the hour, followed by a networking break that invites presenters to engage with each other and the audience to further develop their network within the Bay of Quinte region.

In 2023, 40 different organizations presented in this format hosted at 250 Sidney St.

In 2024, more than 50 registered to participate in the same approach at Loyalist College.  Rounds started at 10 a.m. and ran through until 3 p.m.

“We have been working on developing an opportunity where small business owners are guaranteed a spotlight on their story. I’m so happy it has evolved into this incredible showcase of the diversity and variety of businesses and organizations that are the backbone of our community,” said Jill Raycroft, Chamber CEO.

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The rounds are recorded and can be viewed on the Belleville Chamber of Commerce’s YouTube channel following the event.

The event was followed by a tour of the college with president and CEO Mark Kirkpatrick and onto the Mega Mingle where nearly 150 people gathered to continue with the networking fun.

Small Business Week continued with discussions around succession planning at a Breakfast event in Belleville and an evening session at Base31, supported by the Prince Edward County Chamber of Commerce.

Culminating events on Friday were set to include a virtual round table with Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams and Bay of Quinte MPP Tyler Allsopp in the morning and then the highly anticipated Quinte Business Achievement Awards gala where 16 organizations are recognized for their success and the Business Person of the Year for the Quinte region is named.

For more information about events, go to bellevillechamber.ca and click the Small Business Week rolling banner.

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