– Christine Petkau is the Executive Director of the Summerland Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Summerland. She can be reached at cpetkau@summerlandchamber.com.
SUMMERLAND – In March I had the opportunity to meet Luanne Chore, Executive Director of SIDIT – the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust. The Trust operates in the Southern Interior region of the province and the goal of the Trust (and their various programs) is to help grow and diversify the economy of the Southern Interior of British Columbia through economic development initiatives in 10 key sectors.
In September of 2016, SIDIT launched an innovative new program called Business Advisory Services and in April I was able to meet with the program manager, Ginny Becker.
Ginny explained that through the program, SIDIT is giving small and mid-sized businesses located in the Southern Interior region the levels of business competence, confidence and contacts needed to accelerate growth. SIDIT recognizes that, whether a newer or more established business, running a company can be a lonely experience where you often wish you had some expert advice available.
The Business Advisory Service has a group of professional business advisors available to help. These advisors have run businesses themselves so they know all the potential pitfalls. Business owners participating in the program will be able to access advisors in a variety of areas such as finance, operations, HR, scalability and more.
The program isn’t free, however the fees are subsidized by SIDIT from what a businessperson would normally have to pay for in-depth, one-on-one, professional advice. And judging from the case studies that are available to read on the website, entrepreneurs are finding great value from their investment in the services.
We will be sharing more about SIDIT’s Business Advisory Services with our Chamber members and would encourage other Chambers to do this as well. Find more information about the program and read their case studies at: siditbas.com.