Join us each Wednesday at 1:00pm for our Business Success Series webinars. These weekly webinars provide resources to businesses as they adapt to current environments and continue to grow.
In addition to the Business Success Series, you are welcome to watch the webinar recordings listed below.
past webinars
June 23, 2020
Join us as we learn about the responsibility that employers have to accommodate their staff, as well as the return on investment (ROI) that businesses can expect to see from making accommodations. Employees can request accommodations for a variety of reasons and COVID-19 may impact the types of accommodations that are requested as businesses reopen. Kathleen MacLeod, Melissa Silva and Danielle Shantz from our local Canadian Council of Rehabilitation and Work office will talk about self-disclosure and changing the way we think.
June 15, 2020
Join Seann McAleese and Evan Campbell, Kitchener-Waterloo experts from Miller Thomson’s National Labour and Employment group as they provide the latest update on employment issues in provincial re-opening plans and answer your questions in an interactive webinar. Topics will include:
- Update on provincial re-opening plans
- Preparing the physical workplace and updating policies for employees’ return to work
- Practical tips on recalling employees back to work
- Accommodating employees’ requests not to return to work
- How to deal with work refusals
June 11, 2020
An Update on Economic Recovery in Waterloo Region
Join us to hear from our guest Tony LaMantia, President and CEO of Waterloo EDC and Chair of the Business and Economic Support Team of Waterloo Region (BESTWR), who will discuss the reopening of local businesses, updates on government programs, acquiring PPE, and advocacy efforts. Ian McLean, President & CEO of the GKWCC and Art Sinclair, Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy will also join us to share updates on advocacy from the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.
May 25, 2020
Hot Topics in HR
Are you a business owner who is curious about ensuring you stay on top of all things in HR while navigating your way through the pandemic? Join Michelle, Amy and Jill from H2R Business Solutions to hear about the current hot topics in HR that businesses are facing while managing through the pandemic and into recovery. We will share updates on topics that may be keeping you and your employees up at night. Learn about best practices across all industries and tools to help.
May 22, 2020
Commercial Real Estate During a Pandemic
If you are a small business, you probably lease or own commercial real estate that you haven’t been able to fully utilize since mid-March. Join us as we discuss issues including the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA), strategies Tenants and Landlords are using to restructure leases, and what the future of the office might look like.
Presenters: Benjamin Bach, Vice President; Michael Polzl, President and Broker of Record, Cushman & Wakefield Waterloo Region.
May 21, 2020
Adapting Your Brand Strategy During COVID-19
Join us for this marketing webinar to learn why businesses should be adapting their brand strategy during COVID-19. You will learn what a brand strategy is and how changing consumer needs, emotions and competitive environments are impacting your brand. We will review real life examples of what leading and local brands are doing to adapt their own strategies and take-away five strategies you can implement in your own brand storytelling to remain relevant during this challenging time of unprecedented change.
Presenter: Andrea Martin, Director of Marketing at LWDG.
May 19, 2020
Understanding and Supporting the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Workers During and After the COVID-19 Crisis
The COVID-19 crisis is unique and unprecedented. Over the course of only a few weeks, Canadians were asked to profoundly modify their ways of working and living for an unlimited amount of time for the benefits of the health of our society as a whole. This has enormous impacts for the professional projects, daily activities and financial situation of entrepreneurs and employees. How do the crisis and its social and financial consequences impact the mental health and psychological wellbeing of workers? To address that question, Dr. Coulombe will present results from an ongoing study (co-led with his graduate student, Tyler Pacheco) assessing the mental health and wellbeing of more than 1000 workers from across the country through the different stages of the pandemic. Dr. Coulombe will then present evidence-based self-care and management practices that employees, managers and organizations can implement in order to promote the mental health of workers during and after the crisis.
May 12, 2020
How to Efficiently Ship Product to Your Customer
If you are a small business owner who is new to or expanding their e-commerce, join us to learn the ins and outs of shipping your product to your customer. During this webinar Jennifer Seberras, CEO of Simplify Supply Chain Solutions, will help businesses understand how to streamline and find cost savings with delivery costs.
May 11, 2020
How COVID-19 Impacts Home and Auto Insurance
A Cowan INFINITE Expert discusses what you need to know about COVID-19 and your personal insurance.
Presented by Tracy Spark, Business Dev Executive, Cowan INFINITE
May 8, 2020
Protecting Your Business While Supporting a Remote Workforce
From vacant property risks and cybersecurity to employee health and wellness: Cowan experts discuss what you need to know when your employees work remotely.
Presenters from Cowan Insurance Group: Colin Bowman Consultant, National Benefits, Nick Goodfellow Sales Consultant, Small Business Solutions
May 6, 2020
Video To the Rescue: How to Use Video to Your Advantage In the Current Climate
Chances are video is already the medium preferred by your customers and it is becoming even more necessary in the current climate. Join Mat King, Video Production Manager at Vidyard, to dive into the world of video and how it can make an impact for your business. You’ll learn:
- Why video can be your silver bullet
- What goes into the production process
- The easiest ways to get started
- How other small businesses are succeeding with video
May 5, 2020
Make the Most of Your Virtual Meetings
As rapid remote work disrupts our day-to-day operations, it’s important to remember this isn’t the new normal. At the same time, we have an opportunity to pick up some new tips and tricks that may extend beyond this state of emergency. During this 45-minute webinar Overlap’s experienced facilitators will help you level up your work processes to support more effective virtual collaboration. Topics include setting new communication norms, running meetings people will actually enjoy, and making the most of working from home.
Presenters: Ryan Voisin, Director, Programs and Sarah Martin, Senior Designer with Overlap Associates.
May 4, 2020
Not for Profit: Navigating the Road to Financial Recovery
As we watch organizations trying to navigate significant, impactful decisions, quickly and in isolation, we uncover what every not-for-profit should do to adapt and stay ahead of the curve. Join me to discuss how the not-for-profit sector can get back on their feet financially.
Presenter: Kelly Hagen is a Partner at BDO Canada and is the Not for Profit Industry Leader.
May 1, 2020
ShopKW Platform Tutorial: Learn What It Can Do For Your Business!
In a follow-up to our first ShopKW webinar, Andrew Perkins from ShopCity (supplier of ShopKW) will lead you through a tutorial to show you how to maximize your business’ local exposure online! Get started with a 90-day free trial and learn about the possibilities ShopKW can offer your business.
April Webinars
April 30, 2020
Navigating Through Turbulent Times
Steven Karpenko has over fifteen years of experience working with small and medium-sized businesses on leading their operations and managing through challenging financial times. The COVID-19 crisis has reacted circumstances that none of us could have imagined a year ago. Join us as Steven presents some practical advice and provides focus on the key challenges of ‘Navigating Through Turbulent Times’.
Presenter: Steven Karpenko, Senior Business Advisor with the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
April 29, 2020
Keeping Your Small Business Cybersafe
Working from home is today’s new normal as we all band together to flatten the coronavirus curve. But this adds new pressures as cyber criminals are targeting remote employees to use their access as a backstage pass to your SMB’s most sensitive data and systems. In this chaos, your employees are the greatest vulnerability in the security equation but the most valuable asset to your small business.
Key insights from this webinar hosted by local businesses FoxNet and eSentire include:
- Recent attacks resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic
- Demystifying dangerous myths during crisis
- Outlining simple steps to protect yourself and your business
Presenters: Bill Fox, Founder & CEO, FoxNet and Eldon Sprickerhoff, Founder & CIO at eSentire.
April 28, 2020
“What do I do if…?” COVID-19 Best Practices for Essential Businesses
Sandy Stevens, Director of Public Health Protection & Investigation with the Region of Waterloo Public Health & Emergency Services, provided COVID-19 best practices for essential businesses, and answered any questions attendees had
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April 27, 2020
Utilizing a Pandemic to Achieve More For Your Business
“Busy” was a word used too often by too many pre-pandemic, but, what happens when the world yells “stop!”.
Join Kris Ronan from Ronan Consulting for a conversation to learn about some ways business owners are utilizing this “gift of time” as a way to strengthen their business and build new connections or revenue streams.
April 24, 2020
Commercial Insurance and COVID-19
Experts from Cowan share a case study of a small business impacted by COVID-19 and discuss how you can protect your business during the pandemic.
April 22, 2020
How to Keep Your Culture and Engagement Alive During an Un-engaging Circumstance
Learn about simple solutions and practical ideas to maintaining an engaged and positive company culture during this challenging time from Axonify.
April 21, 2020
GKWCC Advocacy Update & Town Hall
Learn about how the Greater KW Chamber of Commerce is advocating on behalf of the business community and the latest on the government support programs. In addition, we held a virtual town hall because we want to hear from the business and not-for-profit/charitable communities. This was an opportunity for you to ask your questions and tell us about your experiences so that we can provide information/resources and advocate on your behalf.
April 16, 2020
Enhance Your Organization’s Online Presence
As a business owner, there has never been a better time to enhance your organization’s online presence. Create an online web presence that keeps you competitive and doesn’t take hours a week to maintain. ShopKW is a GKWCC community initiative that encourages shopping local, while providing you with the tools needed to get your business in front of new customers. Join us to get all the details on using these tools to your advantage.
April 15, 2020
Employment Law Risks in the COVID 19 era
Since March 15, 2020, Canadian businesses have struggled with unprecedented challenges due to COVID 19. Many businesses are in survival mode and are contemplating terminations, unpaid layoffs, pay cuts, reduction in hours and other unusual measures. What are the legal risks in each of these strategies? Are there any ways of mitigating the risks?
April 14, 2020
COVID-19, CERB and CEWS and the Rest – Leveraging Government Programs and Legal Risks
Since March 15, 2020, Canadian businesses have struggled with unprecedented challenges due to COVID 19. This seminar will update you on the government programs that are available to your business and brief you on the best practices that have developed over the last four weeks. Ample time will be allowed for Q & A and a list of helpful resources will be provided.
April 8, 2020
Top 5 COVID Questions asked by Small Business
In this webinar, Tim Sothern, Partner with BDO Canada LLP will discuss the various questions asked by BDO clients as they deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Tim will cover considerations when making layoff decisions, what lending options are available, deferring HST and source deduction payments, deadlines for filing tax returns and making tax payments.
April 6, 2020
Connecting the Dots: Navigating Government Support for Business During COVID-19
The national response to the COVID-19 crisis has seen all aspects of Canadian society pull together. However, many businesses are struggling right now to make decisions on the future and are overwhelmed with the amount of information about programs that are available.
Join us to hear from Julie Garner, Principal at Earnscliffe, who will provide an overview of the programs and provide advice for navigating them in this challenging time. The webinar will be moderated by Ian McLean, President & CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
April 3, 2020
COVID-19 and Your Business
The impact of COVID-19 is changing the way we all do business. Experts from Cowan Insurance Group are here to answer your questions on business insurance, benefits, personal insurance, and wealth management.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
April 2, 2020
Cybersecurity Best Practices for Working Remotely
Do you have staff working remotely? If so, then we encourage you to join us to learn about best practices in cybersecurity when you have a team working remotely. Our guest will be Alex Willis, Vice President, Sales Engineering & ISV Partners from BlackBerry who will talk about the importance of protecting your company from security risks and tools that are available for you to use.
March Webinars
March 26, 2020
COVID-19 and Your Business with Ian McLean, President & CEO of the Greater KW Chamber of Commerce
The situation is rapidly changing and the Chamber is working hard to share the most up to date information and resources with our members. Ian McLean, the President & CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, shared an update on COVID-19 and the impacts to your business, as well as how the Chamber can continue to support you.
