The Innovation Central Society (ICS) is standing by to help business entrepreneurs across northern B.C., thanks to a federal investment this week.
On Tuesday (July 28), Canada’s Minister for Economic Development Mélanie Joly announced funding of nearly $3 million to help elevate B.C.’s technology sector, which has also felt the pinch of COVID-19 since the pandemic hit the province.
In Prince George, the Hubspace provides a place for regional residents to expand on their business ventures, as part of the BC Accelerator Network, and find opportunities to grow.
The space on the corner of Third Avenue and Quebec Street is set to be a part of this latest investment, but it’s unclear as of this publication how much money it’ll receive.
“We do know that it will be significant and very helpful to entrepreneurs in northern B.C.,” says ICS-Hubspace spokesperson Chris King in an email to PrinceGeorgeMatters.
He explains, right now, the Hubspace in the process of kickstarting its Digital Marketing Bootcamp for unemployed, underemployed and business people in the region.
The federal government’s funding is set to help the six-week initiative, which King says will aim to ‘give individuals all the skills they need to get a job as junior digital marketing professionals, things like Facebook, Google and Instagram advertising, search engine optimization and much more.’
“While this program will be an addition to our current services, it will be within this realm that the expansion occurs,” he adds. “Our mission is to help innovators grow and that is guaranteed to stay the same moving forward.”
ICS-Hubspace’s area serves blossoming business people in the north, which equates to a vast area of 650,000 sq. km.
Garth Frizzell, Director of Entrepreneurship at the ICS-Hubspace, believes the B.C. Technology Sector Resiliency Program reflects the ‘active steps’ the federal and provincial governments are taking in looking out for struggling businesses.
“The programs announced today demonstrate that Innovate BC and Western Diversification have a clear vision on the need to not just safely restart the economy, but to help our business community prosper through this pandemic and beyond.”
The Hubspace is set to release more information in the coming days regarding its Digital Marketing Bootcamp.
You can check out the ICS-Hubspace website for more details.
Canada's Economic Development Minister Melanie Joly speaks to recipients of B.C.'s $2.95M Technology Sector Resiliency Program, including Garth Frizzell at Prince George's Hubspace, on July 28, 2020 (via Innovation Central Society)
