Organizer hopes Iqaluit expo will be boost for small businesses

Stephen Johnson says he hopes the Small Business and Community Expo he’s organizing for Iqaluit next month will fill a need that’s not being met by larger trade shows.

Iqaluit already has large trade fairs but “they often leave out the little guys,” said Johnson, the co-founder of Ledgers Nunavut, an accounting and tax business.

Ledgers Nunavut is organizing the October event.

Johnson pointed to the three-day Nunavut Trade Show and Conference that opens Sept. 17 in Iqaluit featuring large businesses and government agencies.

“The big guys are there in a big way … but there really wasn’t a forum for smaller organizations to get the same kind of interaction with the public audiences in a cost-effective manner,” Johnson said Monday.

The Small Business and Community Expo is scheduled to be held at the Aqsarniit Hotel and Convention Centre on Oct. 11 and 12. It’s organized exclusively for small Iqaluit businesses and organizations.

The event’s opening day will be for exhibitors only from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. That’s to allow them to network, support each other and build lasting relationships, Johnson said.

On the second day, a Saturday, the public can attend from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In addition to exhibit booths, the event will feature door prizes and information presentations by individual exhibitors in separate rooms adjacent to the larger event.

For example, Ledgers Nunavut is scheduled to host a session about specific tax advantages for Nunavummiut.

Nunavut Legal Aid also plans to host a session, though Johnson was unsure of the topic. Slots are still available for exhibitors who wish to host breakout sessions, he said.

As with all other aspects of the expo, breakout sessions will be free to attend.

Johnson said he has been planning the event since early this year but only began rolling out the plans last week. He has 18 registered exhibitors so far with a capacity for 80.

“The great thing is the financial barrier to entry has been removed,” he said.

The Government of Nunavut is providing partial funding for the expo through its Small Business Support Fund.

Exhibitors will get space with a table to set up, in whatever way they see fit, free of charge, Johnson said. There are no registration costs.

He said the event will allow the public to see what’s out there in terms of non-profit groups, small businesses and different associations in the community.

“It really gives us a chance for these one-on-one conversations so that we start relationships that will last beyond the show,” Johnson said.