Posted on Tuesday October 18, 2022

Small Business Week: Celebrating local businesses

Over the past few years, businesses have faced many challenges: rising interest rates, inflation, labour shortages, and the pandemic have greatly affected or even paralyzed their activities. In the current economic climate, it’s more important than ever to celebrate the perseverance and dedication of our entrepreneurs, to whom our communities owe a debt of gratitude.

Audrée Godbout, Account Manager at UNI, works closely with Dieppe-area small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and explains why it’s important to salute their hard work at a time when Small Business Week is in full swing. Spotlight on our local business people!

SMEs: at the heart of New Brunswick communities

Small Business Week is an event organized by the Bank of Canada that aims to showcase the people behind our businesses, and to help entrepreneurship shine. SMEs play a key role in the province’s economy. In December 2021, the 25,000 SMEs in New Brunswick generated more than 156,000 jobs.

“If it weren’t for small businesses, many communities would be in trouble,” says Audrée Godbout. “Many of them depend on their SMEs to continue to grow, or simply to exist through the jobs they create.”

Economic, social, and cultural impacts

On the economic front, the presence of SMEs in the region has multiple impacts. They are the driving force behind the regional economy, providing the population with many quality jobs. “In New Brunswick, around 80% of jobs are generated by small and medium-sized businesses,” points out the Account Manager.

On the social front, SMEs encourage sharing within the community, because they are close to their customers, with whom they forge personalized relationships. “SMEs stand out for their accessibility, the human contact they establish with their customers, and their presence in the community, where they are actively involved,” explains Ms. Godbout.

In a bilingual province where many cultures coexist, SMEs also help to cultivate and share Acadian, Francophone, and Anglophone culture. “They bring colour and personality to a community’s culture and help it to flourish.”

Business people: role models for passion and perseverance

To succeed in entrepreneurship, several qualities are essential: perseverance, dedication, passion, and commitment. “Most of my customers started their businesses from scratch,” says Audrée Godbout with admiration.

“They were passionate about a sector or a product. They did their research and learned their trade by working for other companies or taking training courses, then opened their own business. These are people with heart who give their all to make things work. Their dedication is inspiring and makes me want to get personally involved in the success of their projects.”

Encouraging SMEs by buying local

What can we do to encourage our business owners, especially at a time when they need all our support? First of all, by striving to buy local.

“It’s a give-and-take situation: businesses offer good jobs to people in the community, and the population encourages businesses by buying local.” You can also offer your services on a voluntary basis, or lend a sympathetic ear to a loved one who owns their own business and could use a helping hand.

UNI: serving local businesses

All UNI advisors agree: SMEs are part of our communities’ DNA. Our mission is to support them and help them continue to contribute to the vitality of our region.

“Because we’re a local financial institution, we have account managers all over the province, close to entrepreneurs,” explains their number-one ally. “We travel to job sites and are always available to answer their questions. We don’t just analyze the numbers; we go out into the field to see how things work and get to know our entrepreneurs well.”