The funding and support landscape for entrepreneurs and businesses is shifting every day. It can be challenging to stay up to date on the current incentives and opportunities available.

Our monthly Funding and Support session creates a space where businesses can connect with experts and service providers in the community to receive assistance in accessing resources. From government funding and grants, to loans and hiring incentives, we will bring in a new organization each month to learn about.

This October, Accelerate Okanagan’s Community Manager Alex Goodhew, is joined by Kayla Chutter & Stephanie Waters from Procurement Assistance Canada (PAC). The team at PAC will be sharing a range of government resources and provide you with insights for buying and selling to the Canadian government.

Who is Procurement Assistance Canada? The Pacific Region’s Procurement Assistance Canada (PAC) provides assistance and learning opportunities to small and medium sized businesses to better understand how the Government of Canada procures goods and services. PAC also helps connect current or aspiring entrepreneurs with local resources and programs such as the Women’s Enterprise Centre, Black Business Association of BC, the IDEaS program, Small Business BC and more. Find more info here.

About Kayla

Kayla Chutter, Project Officer, is dedicated to helping diverse suppliers navigate the federal procurement process in her role with PAC. Under her portfolio, Kayla frequently gives informational presentations, organizes seminars catered towards a variety of underrepresented communities, conducts one-on-one meetings to answer supplier questions and participates in community outreach. Kayla is also a Certified Agile Leader with the Scrum Alliance and thoroughly enjoys working in a collaborative setting.

About Stephanie

Stephanie Waters, Project Officer has strived to connect with a wide demographic of suppliers and organizations in order to assist them in becoming a supplier of the Federal Government. To best achieve this, Stephanie delivers educational seminars and conducts one-on-one meetings with small business owners. She is a university student in Kamloops where she is in her final years of a Bachelor’s of Business Administration with a major in Supply Chain Management and Project Management minor at Thompson Rivers University. Stephanie hopes that through her meaningful work at PAC, she will be able to help reduce barriers in federal procurement and see increased participation by currently underrepresented communities.

This session will be hosted virtually to allow for safety and accessibility across the valley.