VICTORIA - Government is investing $1 million in a new training partnership to further the success of British Columbia's fast growing small business sector, Small Business and Revenue Minister Rick Thorpe announced today at the BC Chamber of Commerce's 55th Annual General Meeting.

"With Canada's fastest small business growth and job growth, we have to learn how to manage our success - that is, to better retain, train and recruit small business staff," said Thorpe. "This training investment responds directly to small business concerns, to strengthen their enterprises and help make British Columbia Canada's most small business friendly jurisdiction."

In its first-year report released last October, the province's permanent Small Business Roundtable noted it had consulted hundreds of "enthusiastic and positive" small business owners and operators in all regions of British Columbia. The report identified access to skilled labour as a major issue and recommended government broadly "support human resource access, development and education." A key, related recommendation was to "promote business education courses throughout the province" by leveraging training partnerships with public- and private-sector partners.

"Small business faces some unique barriers to on-the-job training, and retention of skilled employees will become more difficult over time," said John Winter, president and CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce. "This public-private partnership will develop and implement an innovative training program targeted specifically to the needs of the small business sector and small business owners themselves."

"Small businesses have told us they need affordable, accessible training in key areas, ranging from start-up financing, to exporting, to succession planning," said Linda Larson, vice chair of the Roundtable. "When you invest in relevant skills, you increase the likelihood of people starting, succeeding and remaining in small business."

The BC Chamber of Commerce, Okanagan College, the Small Business Roundtable, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Retail BC and the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue will steer development of the new training initiative. It will focus on filling gaps in existing business education and skill-development programs through public-private partnerships. The program will target specifically the current and future needs of employers and employees, reflecting the need of small business to compete for workers as never before.

In Phase 1 of the program's development, a steering committee of key small business leaders will assess opportunities, research existing programs and set aggressive timelines for on-the-ground action.

Co-op and internship opportunities will be explored to provide workers with the skills they need and to help small businesses recruit and retain the skilled workers they need to keep growing.

"This funding is a reflection of our government's steadfast commitment, since 2001, to small business as a driving force in British Columbia's thriving economy," said Thorpe.