Small Business Week goes virtual because of the pandemic

Because of COVID, of course, Small Business Week will most certainly look and feel different this year.

The week celebrating small business runs today through Saturday with virtual events in Kelowna and across the country.

The marquee event in Kelowna is a virtual Conversation with Michael Denham, the CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, to discuss resiliency and innovation during the pandemic and beyond.

It runs Wednesday, noon to 1 pm.

Register at KelownaChamber.org.

The Business Development Bank of Canada created Small Business Week 40 years ago to recognize and support companies with under 100 employees, which are considered to be the backbone of the Canadian economy.

Today, the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission launched an online business confidence survey at InvestKelowna.com.

Businesses can take the survey through Oct. 30.

Survey results will be used to determine what programs the commission should develop to help companies with their pandemic recovery.

Community Futures is putting on three days of workshops, Tuesday through Thursday, for small business owners and managers in the Okanagan and Shuswap to learn about everything from tax preparation and entrepreneurial tune up to digital marking and supporting your team during COVID.

Register for free at Eventbrite.ca.

The bank, chamber, commission and Community Futures also wants businesses facing tough times that they can apply for the BC government's Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grant.

The grant program will provide up to $300 million in targeted financial support for hard-hit businesses that have two to 149 employees.

Payments could range from $10,000 to $30,000 and an additional $5,000 to 10,000 is available to eligible tourism-related businesses particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

Apply at Gov.bc.ca.