Business owners and decision makers will get together over potential contracts and other partnerships at an upcoming First Nations-driven business fair.
Aboriginal Business Match Vancouver Island will be hosted at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre Monday to Wednesday (Feb. 1-3).
Aboriginal Business Match is a growing Canada-wide, First Nations-driven network that currently includes one-third of aboriginal communities and more than 500 companies and is expected to double in size in 2016. Next week’s fair will be the first time this event has been held on the Island.
The event brings First Nations and non-aboriginal delegates from across B.C. together in one place. Each delegate sets up as many as 30 or more pre-qualified, 20-minute appointments in a trade show atmosphere.
“A lot of the networking happens in those 20-minute meetings and they have team challenges as well, so a lot of the networking can happen in sort of a casual environment,” said Erick Thompson, event spokesman. “One of the things we get from a lot of people who are involved in it is that you can meet with, potentially, people from all over the province all in one place in two and half days, so it can save a lot of travel and a lot of time and you can look at them across the table and see if it’s a good match.”
ABM Vancouver Island is being held in partnership with Snuneymuxw First Nation, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Development Corporation and the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance.
For more information, please visit www.aboriginalbusinessmatch.com.
