SUPPORTING HIGH POTENTIAL COMPANIES
Since 1887, the Board of Trade has focused on growing the economy and supporting entrepreneurs and enterprises to thrive both at home and abroad. This spirit was behind the Board's efforts to re-launch the World Trade Centre Vancouver which has supported over 200 companies grow their export revenues and reach new markets around the globe.
As SME's navigate evolving challenges and opportunities, they need access to resources and information to advance their growth. While the WTC-V has assisted SMEs in growing their exports, there remain challenges in helping local businesses grow.
Research from World Trade Centre Toronto's (WTC-T) Defying Gravity expert report suggests that few Canadian small firms become either mid-sized or large. However, the Government of Canada estimates that high-growth firms, just four per cent of businesses in Canada, created 45 per cent of net new jobs.[1] We must increase our competitiveness if we are to compete on a global scale.
THE VISION
Building off the success of the WTC-V, and the findings of the Defying Gravity expert report produced by WTC-T, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade is launching the Scale-up Centre for SMEs (SCS). The SCS will provide a series of curated program offerings to help high-potential firms from various sectors overcome barriers to continued growth and elevate their growth trajectories.