Kimberley entrepreneur prepares to depart for Nice, France

Entrepreneur Tod Caton is part of Team Canada, attending the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit

by Keith Powell — October 31, 2011

This week, Kimberley-based entrepreneur, Tod Caton, founder and president of Backside Tours Inc. will be joining 31 other Canadian delegates to form Team Canada at the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit (G20 YES) in Nice, France.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to interact with other young entrepreneurs from around the world,” said Caton.

The dynamic young Canadian entrepreneurs were selected to participate in the G20 YES, an annual international summit that brings together dedicated and influential entrepreneurs of the G20 countries, between October 31 and November 2, 2011.

Tod Caton will be working with delegates from around the world to identify the ways that governments and business communities can best harness the potential of young entrepreneurs, while also driving public policy, raising awareness and providing a voice for young entrepreneurs around the globe. The delegates will also be assessing the data published in two recent studies:

The Power of Many: Realizing the socioeconomic potential of entrepreneurs in the 21st century by McKinsey & Company:

Entrepreneurs speak out: A call to action for G20 governments – The Nice Cote d’Azur 2011 Entrepreneurship Barometer by Ernst & Young:

The resulting recommendations from the G20 YES delegates will then be officially handed to the G20 leaders on November 3 in Cannes.

“I look forward to working with delegates from around the world to identify ways governments and business communities can best harness the potential of young entrepreneurs. I also view my participation as an opportunity to raise awareness of our beliefs that the 'business at all costs' model is broken. Increasing awareness of the environmental realities of a business-first mentality is definitely on my agenda,” said Caton.

Tod Caton and business partner Neall Alden were selected by Canadian delegation organizers, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, hosts of the inaugural G20 YES in Toronto which took place in June, 2010. The Toronto summit invited 200 young entrepreneurs and the organizations that represent them from the G20 countries to participate in the development of a communiqué delivered to the G20 leaders.