Entrepreneurial and Labour Market Development
The contributions of entrepreneurial activity to our economy and society are widely recognized. Since 1988, the College of Continuing Education (formerly Henson College) has worked with third party funders to develop and deliver relevant programming for entrepreneurs to provide the skills, information and support necessary to succeed in starting their businesses. Although we support entrepreneurs whose businesses are in various stages of development, we focus on pre-start, start-up and young operations. We maintain a close association with the small business sector and established entrepreneurs to stay in touch with the current and forecasted economic climate and to best serve the needs of our clients.
In pursuit of helping businesses get "off the ground" we have developed and delivered services to a number of groups who expressed specific needs, through our Enterprise Development Program for Black Youth, Creating Enterprise for Woman, the Enterprise Development Option of the Compass Program and currently through Entrepreneurial Development Services for Persons with Disabilities. The College of Continuing Education has applied the core competencies required in starting and running a business, to curriculum and program design for groups with diverse needs.
Self-Employment Assistance
Currently we are under contract to deliver the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) programs for Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) in Halifax and Bedford. Since September 1993 there have been fifty-six groups, with more than 600 graduates, operating businesses in the Maritimes and as far afield as Europe, and Central America with suppliers and customers around the world.
Through these and related programs we work with about 150 entrepreneurs per year as they plan, develop and launch their business ideas. All clients in the SEA program are referred by HRDC counsellors in the areas served and allied with the College of Continuing Education for a period of one year. During this time they receive the training required to develop a business plan around their own business, benefit from business advisory relationships and are supported by our staff and associates.
The individual backgrounds, life experiences, and needs of the clients drive the design of the program, so that we are able to deliver a program tailored to the needs of each targeted group.
The faces that appear around the table in any of these courses are the faces of Atlantic Canada today-senior civil servants who find themselves out of a job after a twenty year career, members of middle management whose jobs disappeared as hierarchies are flattened, fishers with no fish to catch, black youth, social service recipients, and persons with disabilities who want more from life.
These programs have one thing in common-people who want to take charge of their own destiny by creating their own job. Many are assisted in doing so by funding from Human Resources Development Canada.
Henson clients receive a combination of skills training, individual support, mentoring, and networking opportunities, as they prepare a complete and feasible business plan.
Program statistics are mirroring the best national models and parallel programs that have run in other countries. The program consistently has more applicants than available seats and those who are accepted follow a rigorous application process. The program boasts a ninety percent start rate for new businesses, a consistently high retention rate and an average of eighty percent business success rate.
For more information on Enterprise Development Programs, please contact Andrew G. Cochrane by phone at (902) 494-6896, by fax at (902) 494-3662 or by e-mailing Andrew Cochrane.
