As we start to wind down our busiest time of the year, I’ve been reflecting on this city I love, Halifax.
We’ve seen incredible growth in Halifax in the last several years.
Our downtown core is lined with exciting projects. New businesses are popping up every day, from retail to restaurants.
There’s never been a better time to be in Halifax.
We’re retaining our population, we’re on track to meet our GDP targets and we want to be able to boast an open-for-business investment climate.
We even threw our hat into the ring for Amazon HQ 2! Halifax Regional Municipality and the Halifax Partnership, with support from a number of other organizations each contributed to the overall submission and made us contenders for this game-changing economic impact.
While we didn’t snag the Amazon contract, we did land eBay’s retail revival program, a hands-on training program to equip small businesses with the skills they need to thrive in the global economy.
The Chamber also recently launched our Trade Accelerator Program, an innovative and dynamic program aimed at helping Halifax’s enterprises overcome barriers to exporting.
We’re constantly finding new opportunities for growth and we’re not stopping anytime soon.
A huge contributor to our growth is our collaboration. Once upon a time in Halifax, we were a siloed bunch. We worked and lived in our circles and didn’t venture beyond them. Now, we’re seeing Halifax’s community leaders collaborate on projects, share ideas and lift each other up, like the Halifax Partnership supporting our luncheon with the mayor this month at the Halifax Convention Centre.
Last month, the business community came together to celebrate Small Business Week. We saw 500+ attendees, hosted events at local venues with our seven community partners and our two main sponsors and reached thousands more with our social media promotions.
Our team is also dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the business community and has partnered with organizations like the Black Business Initiative to invite their clients and members to our events and vice versa. Through this, we’re able to host a more holistic representation of our business community.
United Way’s poverty strategy is the culmination of concerned citizens wanting to make a difference. A diverse group of 22 community leaders combined their efforts to combat poverty in Halifax and to address the inequalities that come with growth.
We can achieve more when we work together — when we collaborate. We’re all working towards the same goal: Halifax’s sustainable and inclusive growth. Pooling our resources and working collaboratively allows us to look at the big picture and take definitive action. So, cheers to you, Halifax! Let’s keep up the momentum and continue making an impact, both locally and globally. ν
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