A guiding hand in your business

Have you ever wanted to start a business but had no idea how to? That won't happen anymore

(L) Jan Wallace, Aleha McCauley, Dr. Irving Barber and Sandra Singh were all in Cranbrook to release a beta Small Business Accelerator website. — Kali Love photo

On Monday, November 22, 2010, representatives from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia (UBC) came to the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook, B.C. to release their beta Small Business Accelerator Program (SBA).

The main objective of the SBA is to provide B.C. entrepreneurs with relevant information and tools that are needed to create a sound business plan. This business accelerator website covers specific research guides on any type of business, such as: bakeries, fashion design, day care facilities, furniture making, pet care, etc. It also includes key websites where one can find a list of both government and non-government sources of information as well as Standard Industry Codes (SICS) and a business blog written by an MBA student at UBC.

Dr. Irving K. Barber was in attendance, as his contribution of $20 million helped with the construction and development to the Learning Centre. Barber was a student at UBC in 1945 and graudated with a BSc in forestry in 1950. In 1978, Barber founded Slocan Forest Products Ltd. and over the course of 23 years, Barber built this company into one of the leading lumber producers in North America. Throughout his career, Barber put a significant emphasis on directly funding projects that will improve the quality of life for all residents and to inspire growth throughout the province of B.C.

"We live in an imperfect world and while this (website) may seem overacademic, the fundamentals are all there," said Barber. "What we have to do is create a thrust in our society so that there are opportunities for people to do something. For this program to be successful, society has to recognize the impact of providing opportunities for people to do things. I am standing here today because in 1960, Pierre Elliott Trudeau said that we need to buy back Canada . . . There has to be an attitude in Canada that we need to invest in Canada."

For a sneak peak at the beta version of this website visit www.sba-bc.ca.