A Langley gym was the backdrop for an announcement that the B.C. government is spending $2.5 million to train 3,400 more small and medium-sized business owners and staff in Digital Marketing Bootcamp.
The program was launched last November and has already trained about 2,600 people in an attempt to help smaller businesses in B.C. transition towards an online model.
“When the pandemic hit, online ecommerce surged in B.C. and around the globe. This meant that businesses of every size had to get online quickly to make sales and connect with their customers,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. “To support businesses throughout B.C. to pivot and adapt, we launched the Digital Marketing Bootcamp. Given its popularity, we are expanding the program and investing more funds.”
The program has been one of the biggest successes in the digital and businesses support initiatives the province has started since the pandemic, Kahlon said.
Because under-represented groups have been hit harder by the pandemic, 30 per cent of the new seats in the bootcamp program will be reserved for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour, along with rural businesses.
Kahlon made the announcement at AIM Athletic, a Langley gym located at 204th Street and 62nd Avenue.
“I opened this business in September last year, during kind of the most intense time of COVID,” said Jake Harcoff.
He had no real background in digital marketing, but saw a link to the bootcamp on Instagram and said “Why not?”
It gave him a lot of tools “you don’t learn in a kinesiology program or strength-conditioning program,” Harcoff said, and he’s seen more clients sign up since he started using the online techniques.
The cost of the bootcamp is estimated at $6,000 per seat, but it will be offered free of charge to participants.
The bootcamp is open until March 31, and the program is open to B.C.-based and registered businesses with between one and 149 employees. To learn more, visit /alacritycanada.com/online-digital-marketing-bootcamp/ .
READ MORE: Economy added 94,000 jobs in July, largely in the services sector – Statistics Canada
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Langley MLA Andrew Mercier said the program will benefit local businesses like AIM. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)
Jobs minister Ravi Kahlon tried out his slapshot on a piece of exercise equipment at AIM Athletic in Langley on Friday. Kahlon announced more money for thousands of B.C. business owners to learn about digital marketing. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)
