Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, April 13, 2023
President Jackie chaired the meeting.
Sara Young of Newfoundland Credit Union and Peggy Hanlon Brown from prospective corporate member Logistec Stevedoring Inc. were welcomed by Jackie.
Club Business
Jackie spoke of the Fundraising meeting held on April 11th.
- Jackie, Olaf, and Kathleen will meet with Davis Smallwood. RAC to talk about suggestions and ideas for a fundraising concert in June.
- Jackie, Olaf, and Kathleen will meet with Donna Luther to talk about possible fundraising with Rotary and Xavier House
- Lorraine will be sending to all Rotarians a list of businesses each Rotarian will be asked to approach for donations for the On-Line Auction. Rotarians will be asked to review their list and to check with Lorraine if they have concerns or suggestions.
Guest Speaker
Verbon introduced guest speaker Dr. Brennan Lowery from the Navigate Entrepreneurship Centre.
The Centre is supported by Grenfell Campus and the College of the North Atlantic and is based in the Centre for Research and Innovation, Corner Brook. Navigate is dedicated to fostering a culture of entrepreneurship in the region by incubating successful start-ups that build on regional advantages.
Dr Lowery began his presentation by explaining what the Navigate Entrepreneurship Centre is and how it functions and whom it helps. Navigate – Collide, Connect, Create- is a partnership between Grenfell Campus and the College of the North Atlantic whose mission is to transform and grow communities through entrepreneurship.
The three service pillars are initially for new entrepreneurs.
COLIDE when new entrepreneurs collide with like-minded individuals and receive support from business advisors to help turn business ideas into start-up realities.
CONNECT with the Navigate Makerspace which is a collaborative communal workspace to learn, make, tinker, and share ideas.
CREATE with the Business Incubator which is a one-stop shop with all the resources a new start-up business needs to take the business to the next level.
Brennan continued by speaking of the people served by the Navigate Centre such as aspiring entrepreneurs, existing businesses in their early stages and those seeking support for new products and the developing of prototypes in the Makerspace.
He continued by talking of the Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI) which was launched in January. He described the different areas in the building and the types of projects being researched now.
He continued his talk by speaking of the Tourism Startup Event to be held May 5 – 6 2023. This 1.5-day event will assist participants develop a pitch to promote their start-up ideas. The pitch competition on the Saturday aims to help aspiring entrepreneurs address tourism industry challenges. During the event participants will be part of a team that “starts-up” a new enterprise and this start-up process will be done through the guidance of coaches and mentors.
To register for this event contact http://navigatetourism.eventbritr.ca
Completed his presentation by giving some client success stories before answering several questions after which he was thanked by Leslie on behalf of the club.
The meeting was then adjourned.