In New Westminster an economic development program has found great success in fostering local entrepreneurship rather than looking to attract outside businesses. The program is called Enterprise Facilitation and is offered free of charge to all New Westminster residents.

The facilitator, Suzette McFaul, does not do the work for you, but she will help point you in the right direction and can offer an impartial perspective that can be hard to find when you are just starting up. Working one on one with entreprenuers the program is run without any formal office space. Instead Suzette prefers less intimidating surroundings for her meetings, which are often held in the local library or coffee shops.

Funding and support for the program includes; the City of New Westminster, VanCity Savings, Human Resources Development Canada, and United Civic Savings. It is operated on less than $90,000 per year, but for this little amount of money it has had huge results and in the past 3 years, New Westminster has gained 70 new businesses. This amounts to 300 new jobs and $6 million dollars of direct investment. The success rate has been so good that there has only been one business failure and no loan defaults.

Suzette's mission is to work with people's passions and turn dreams into reality.

The full article can be found at: vancouver.ca/greaterdot_wa/index.cfm