“Artrepreneur” Wraps Up With A Successful Expo!

The “Artrepreneur” Expo took place on Tuesday, July 18th at the Collingwood Public Library. The Expo was the culmination of a 13-week program designed to equip independent artists, arts administrators and creative entrepreneurs with vital business skills needed for success.

The Small Business Enterprise Centre worked hard in partnership with the County of Simcoe to help these new business owners launch. “It was our pleasure to deliver several of the business workshops to the group. They were keen to learn and had no problem brainstorming creative solutions to the challenges we set them,” said Tim Newton, Manager of the SBEC. “I was excited to see the artistic entrepreneurs present at the Expo!”

The “Artrepreneur” Expo kicked off with remarks from Simcoe County Warden Gerry Marshall and Collingwood Mayor Sandra Cooper. Their opening statements welcomed the business owners and acknowledged the contributions they make to entrepreneurship in our community. Then, each of the twelve art entrepreneurs did a short presentation about their work. To wrap up the night, organizers Donna Goodwin and Kirsty Stevenson presented each entrepreneur with a graduate certificate for completing the program.

We would like to extend our congratulations to Paula Lauzon, Grant Tabler, Deb Baillie, Dennis Campbell, Deirdre Chase, James Stacey, Lynne Beausoleil, Patrice Clarkson, Paulette Dennis, Laura Conning, Jan Ferrigan, and Rochelle Reynolds for completing the “Artrepreneur” program!

To read more about this year’s program and to keep an eye out for next year’s applications, visit experience.simcoe.ca/artrepreneursimcoecounty.