For Small Business Week 2017, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has teamed up with WSIB for its Small Business Too Big To Ignore campaign to continue to raise awareness of the important contributions Ontario’s small businesses are making to local communities and the economy. To kick off the week, the OCC and WSIB hosted a roundtable discussion with Ontario’s Minister Responsible for Small Business Jeff Leal and a number of small businesses from across the province. The roundtable highlighted how small businesses contribute fundamentally to Ontario’s economy, making them too big to ignore.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the Ontario economy and the heart of local communities.”
This week the OCC and Ontario’s Minister of Small Business Jeff Leal also announced, Ontario Small Business Access, a valuable program the Government of Ontario is creating to help small businesses access support, information and resources when navigating Ontario’s regulatory environment.
OCC Interim-President and CEO, Richard Koroscil, with Ontario’s Minister Responsible for Small Business, Hon. Jeff Leal, at Queen’s Park press conference to kick off Small Business Week on Monday, October 16, 2017.
As Ontario’s business advocate, the OCC has advocated on behalf of Ontario’s small business community on a number of issues. In 2017, small businesses face more obstacles than ever, an the OCC is committed to ensuring the voice of small business is heard. With small businesses employing over 3 million Ontarians, the issues of small business are truly too big to ignore.
In 2016, the OCC identified many obstacles small businesses face in Obstacles and Opportunities: The Importance of Small Business in Ontario. The top three obstacles identified in that report are still relevant today.
1. Small businesses need access to talent.
2. Small businesses need government investment in infrastructure; and
3. Small businesses are concerned about the rising costs of doing business.
Small businesses are a powerful and significant business group that deserves to be heard.
Small businesses constitute the vast majority of the OCC’s local Chamber members, volunteers, and are often the people actively involved in community service. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the heart of our local communities.
Drive the conversation forward with #TooBig2Ignore and make sure small business has a voice in Ontario.
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