The City of Penticton is moving forward on supporting the city’s business community, including planning a business forum for this fall.
Jen Vincent, with the city’s economic development team, said regular economic forum are common in larger communities, wanting to keep businesses up to date.
“We were really interested in holding an annual forum, hear what has been happening locally and hear from experts across Canada what is happening in the world,” said Vincent. “The goal is to help our businesses be more competitive. We are hoping 150 to 200 people will attend. It is open to anyone, but we have given a discount to anyone that has an active Penticton business licence.”
The economic outlook forum, FutureBiz Penticton, takes place on Nov. 8 at the Lakeside Resort, offering an afternoon of speakers covering a range of topics, including housing and real estate, U.S. tariffs, projected economic activity and emerging disruptive technologies.
“What we learned through our business climate survey is a lot or our businesses are selling to the states,” said Vincent. “They were really concerned about what kind of decisions down there would really strongly impact their access to affordable supplies or customers.”
One of the speakers is futurist Nikolas Badminton, who will be talking about emerging technologies like blockchain and how these are affecting businesses.
“These bigger topics that are buzzwords, but that people may not have sat down and processed what this means for me,” said Vincent.
The brainchild of the City’s Economic Development team, FutureBiz offers an innovative opportunity for the Penticton business community to hear from an expert panel and look further out on the horizon to consider emerging trends and opportunities, while strengthening local connections. All are welcome to attend the half-day event, however registrants with active Penticton business licenses will be able to access early bird prices of just $25 for the event.
Other speakers include: Jonathan Baynes, CEO of the Penticton Indian Band Development Corp., Pierre Cléroux, VP of research and chief economist for the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Reserve your spot and find out more at futurebizpenticton.com.
Steve Kidd
Senior reporter, Penticton Western News
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