The following companies/organizations are Investors of the Cape Breton Partnership and offer services specific to business development.

Vibe Creative Group

Vibe Creative Group is a creative agency that works on a national stage. Since 2002, the Vibe team has provided exceptional marketing communications results for businesses, organizations and governments within Nova Scotia and across Canada. There are many things that make us who we are – our people, our clients, our ideas. From branding and digital marketing to event coordination, interiors and strategic planning, our dynamic team is ready to work with you to deliver clear, effective marketing communications through inspired design.   Our services include: Strategic Branding Creative Graphic Design Web Design Public Relations Consulting Interiors

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Tracey Boutilier

Owner

181 Charlotte Street, Sydney, NS, B1P 6H2

902-539-3870

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Virtual Adviser Program

Get one-on-one support from an experienced business adviser. Our free Virtual Adviser Program powered by BoomersPlus.com will match you with a seasoned professional to help you solve a unique challenge your business is facing during this difficult time. The program is available to businesses operating in Cape Breton. The Virtual Adviser Program is powered by BoomersPlus.com which specializes in matching organizations with seasoned talent to fill project or term roles. Their network includes thousands of professionals, managers and executives ready to share their experience and expertise.

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Shannon McNeil

Business Planning Advisor

285 Alexandra Street, Sydney, NS,

902-562-0122

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VMP Group

VMP Group is all about engagement, from engaging their clients, to understanding their goals, to developing digital solutions, to helping them engage their customers. It’s a philosophy that’s been working for more than two decades.

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319 Charlotte Street 3rd Floor Sydney, NS B1P 1E1

902-562-8006

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ISANS-Business Workshops

ISANS has business workshops and seminars to help newcomers start and grow a successful business. To attend business training workshops, you must first: be a recent citizen, permanent resident or approved to immigrate register as an ISANS client meet with an ISANS business counsellor have a minimum CLB 5 Classes and workshops take place on-site at ISANS or online through our Online Learning website

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ISANS-Diversify Your Workforce

ISANS helps employers recruit and retain international talent by providing information, workshops, assessments and training to hire immigrants, support immigrant employees, build inclusive workplaces and share professional skills and experience. Some of the assistance provided by ISANS to employers include: On-site Recruitment & Career Info Sessions Skills Match Online Recruitment English in the Workplace Professional Practice Program Trades Practical Assessments Internationally Educated Engineers Bridging Program Internationally Educated Architects Work-based Assessment (Pilot) Program Atlantic Immigration Pilot Project (AIPP) Workplace Culture Program

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902-423-3607

1-866-431-6472

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Island Sandbox

The Island Sandbox is a member of the Nova Scotia Sandbox community. We provide space for various student groups from Cape Breton University and NSCC Marconi Campus to experiment with new entrepreneurial ideas and access business mentors and other support. We deliver unique hands-on programing and workshops to assist in professional and personal development. The Island Sandbox borrows from a time when we first learned to use grains of sand to create a world of possibilities fed solely by our imagination. In that sandbox from our childhood, we learned to collaborate with our peers and to learn through play. At the Island Sandbox, we bring students together with our communities’ entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and academia to create an environment where imagination and innovation can flourish. It is a place to experiment and to see the world through the eyes of an entrepreneur. The Island Sandbox is a collaboration between Cape Breton University and the Nova Scotia Community College to serve as a collision space for ideas and innovation. Our primary focus is to help students explore problems/opportunities through Design Thinking.

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Todd Graham

902-565-9004

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Job Bank

Post your jobs and look for matches with skilled job-seekers, on this online service.

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Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement delivers programs in the areas of work readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship to elementary, middle and high schools in the classroom and after school. Programs include Our Business World, Dollars with Sense, Economics for Success and Company Program. Its Ideation Bootcamp is a 6 week after-school program that provides students in Grade 9-12 with the opportunity to explore generating, developing and evaluating ideas for launching a new entrepreneurial venture. It allows students to develop and test ideas through market research and prototyping, set goals, develop a business model canvas, and learn how to pitch their product or service.

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Maria MacDonald

(902) 371-1478

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LAE – SKILLS ONLINENS

Free on-line courses are offered in partnership with the Nova Scotia’s Department of Labour and Advanced Education, the Nova Scotia Association of CBDC’s and Bluedrop. Skill OnlineNS gives every resident of the province access to thousands of FREE online courses on the most important workplace topics to improve their skills and career prospects.

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Erinn Smith

902-384-3346

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LAE – Workplace Education Initiative

The Workplace Education Initiative Programs are tailored specifically for each workplace to meet the needs of the employees in that workplace. Topics that could be included in a program are essential skills related to the development of documents, communication, computers, reading, math, essentials for small business, academic upgrading and pilot programs Funding under this program can be provided for: Organizational needs assessments Educational needs assessments Essential skills course development and delivery by an instructor Instructor travel Materials and supplies Programs are 35 to 40 hours in duration with 10 to 12 participants per course. (Courses can be with one employer, or a group of employers).

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Donald Ferguson

902-563-2341

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Launch Your Business Webinar Series

Futurpreneur’s Entrepreneur-In-Residence is an engaging webinar where the facilitators take you through key questions to determine where you are with your business idea. The webinar will also outline how to be part of the Entrepeneur-In-Residence program: free coaching sessions for those entrepreneurs who want to launch their business. You will also learn what free resources you have available to you.

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Le Conseil de développement économique de la Nouvelle-Écosse

The CDÉNÉ provides services to existing and potential businesses and entrepreneurs to support them in the development and success of their business or entrepreneurial initiatives. Our business advisors can:

Help develop feasibility studies and business, marketing and strategic plans
Provide advice on how to start, grow or improve your business
Provide mentorship for new entrepreneurs
Lead professional development sessions
Provide information funding sources and subjects related to entrepreneurship (statistics, demographic data, etc.)
Put you in contact with people and agencies that provide additional services

CDÉNÉ also provides economic immigration services to employers / entrepreneurs in Acadian and Francophone communities.

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Jeannot Chiasson

Business advisor – Cape Breton

12521 Cabot Trail, Saint-Joseph-du-Moine

902-224-4102

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Le Conseil de développement économique de la Nouvelle-Écosse Youth Entrepreneurship

CDÉNÉ supports youth entrepreneurship working closely with the Université Sainte-Anne and the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP). Initiatives include:

Networking activities where students meet and develop a deeper understanding of local entrepreneurs
Business Pitch competitions – students present entrepreneurial ideas to “Dragons” from the business world to get advice and to potentially obtain funding for their initiatives
Mentoring young people to support the development of entrepreneurial thought process or mindset
Entrepreneurship boot camps for students from Grades 4 to 6 with the Écoles Plus (Schools Plus) team of the CSAP
Workshops for youth on current topics related to entrepreneurship

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Jeannot Chiasson

Business advisor – Cape Breton

12521 Cabot Trail, Saint-Joseph-du-Moine

902-224-4102

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