Small Business Week: Kick-Off Networking Event (In-Person)

SMALL BUSINESS WEEK 2025

The Vaughan Business & Entrepreneurship Centre (VBEC) in partnership with the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a morning of networking, light refreshments, and a program including welcome remarks from VBEC, and Vaughan Chamber of Commerce, and a keynote addres on 'Fun at Work'...and learn more about the Business Development Bank of Canada's at their booth!

Location: Vaughan City Hall, Vaughan Room

Hosted by the VBEC every October, Small Business Week is a nationally recognized celebration of the contributions small businesses make to the economy. This year’s Small Business Week will focus on empowering businesses to become more inclusive, sustainable and resourceful through providing content on a variety of programs, practical tools and strategies to embrace diversity and inclusion and understanding cultural competence.

The sponsor for the Small Business Week Kick-Off 2025 is the Business Development Bank of Canada(BDC) and programming is being delivered together with local business support organizations.

Registrations are currently open to small businesses and entrepreneurs. For a full schedule of events, including descriptions, please visit vaughanbusiness.ca/SBW.

Keynote Speaker

Joel Hilchey, CEO, Beanstalk Creative

Joel is an ideas guy. His gift seems to stem from a strange combination of observation, insight, and blatant disregard for conventional thinking.

He's also a juggler (literally and figuratively). In addition to leading the Beanstalk Creative team, he maintains a busy schedule as a keynote speaker on workplace culture, creating unforgettable spectacles on stage. He's the father of 3 kids, 2 of whom co-habitated a uterus, and he attempts to be a good husband. Joel has authored 4 books, and he taught engineering for over a decade at McMaster University, where he was named one of the Top 150+ Alumni. He’s a seasoned barbershop quartet singer, he formerly chaired the board of the world-renowned Hamilton Children’s Choir, and he's a semi-competitive joggler (that's right... juggling whilst jogging). Learn more at joelhilchey.com.

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