WELLINGTON – April 4, 2023 – Francophone or bilingual women who are already entrepreneurs or who are thinking about starting a business will have the opportunity to learn about a wide range of entrepreneurial support programs during the 2023 Bilingual Women in Business Tour on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Interested women must register by the end of the day on Wednesday, April 12.

The tour will include visits to four locations in the East Prince region to hear presentations on 14 programs or service organizations that could support these businesswomen. Co-hosted by the Wellington Rural Action Centre (RAC) and the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI (CCAFLIPE), the event will also include lunch and an opportunity for ridesharing.

« We had organized a similar day for women in February 2020, » explains RAC client information officer Josée Ouellette. « The participants really appreciated the event and the information gathered during the day. We are now proposing another day with more stops and more presentations to further inform participants. Some of the presentations will be similar to those we have seen before but the criteria for many of the programs have changed since our first tour. And we have several new organizations and programs on the list this time around. »

CCAFLIPE manager Raymond J. Arsenault notes that « The vast majority of the 15-minute presentations will be given in French and will be delivered by women. However, a few presentations will be given by men or delivered in English. Most of the presentations will be in person; a few will be delivered virtually via Zoom or Teams. »

TOUR SCHEDULE

The tour will begin at the Wellington Rural Action Centre at 48 Mill Rd. at 9 a.m. sharp. There will be presentations in French on the RAC, the CCAFLIPE, the Francophone Ignition Contest, the PERCÉ internship program and RDÉE PEI’s sales missions to Montreal.

The participants will next proceed to the Centre Belle-Alliance at 5 Maris Stella Ave. in Summerside at 11 a.m. for three presentations on the services and programs of the Business Development Bank of Canada (virtually), Skills PEI and Actions Femmes ÎPÉ. Lunch will be provided on site.

The group will then proceed to the CBDC Central PEI offices at 11 Water St. (East) at 12:45 p.m. for presentations in French on CBDC and Innovation PEI programs.

The tour will then move on to its final stop at the Rural Women’s Business Centre at 106 Linkletter Ave. in Central Bedeque for three presentations in English. Starting at 2 p.m., there will be a presentation on the Rural Women’s Business Centre (with a tour of the facility) and the PEI Business Women’s Association, followed by presentations on Canada’s Food Island Partnership and the PEI HR Toolkit (via Zoom).

The registration fee, which must be paid in advance, is $20 per person (which covers lunch and presentations). The preferred method of payment is by e-transfer, but the Chamber also accepts cheques and cash. To register, before the end of the day April 12, contact Josée Ouellette at 902-854-3439 or josee@rdeeipe.org. Any questions can be directed to Ouellette or Raymond J. Arsenault at raymond@rdeeipe.org.

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PHOTO: Josée Ouellette, client information officer with the Wellington Rural Action Centre, shows the posters for the 2023 Bilingual Women in Business Tour, slated for Tuesday, April 18, 2023, to Bonnie Gallant, executive director of RDÉE Prince Edward Island. A few of the RDÉE’s programmes and initiatives will be showcased during the tour.

For more information contact
Josée Ouellette
Client Information Officer
Wellington Rural Action Centre
902-854-3439
josee@rdeeipe.org

Raymond J. Arsenault
Manager
Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI
902-960-1285
raymond@rdeeipe.org