News

GoVenture adopted by 58 community
organizations to help foster entrepreneurship
in Nova Scotia

Sydney, Nova Scotia, October 23, 2001 - Gaining years of small business experience is just a click of the mouse away, thanks to a new software program being offered to the public through Coastal Business Opportunities Inc., the Northside Economic Development Assistance Corporation and the InRich Business development Centre.

Patricia MacNeil, Executive Director of Coastal Business Opportunities Inc. says a computer program which recreates the experience of being a small business owner will give potential entrepreneurs on the Island a chance to experience business ownership without the financial risks.

"GoVenture is a highly visual and realistic business simulation that recreates the day-to-day routine and challenges involved with starting a running a new small business, complete with some unexpected pitfalls," MacNeil said recently in Sydney. "The program allows the user to learn all the inns and outs of owning and operating a business by investing time on a computer instead of risking capital." MacNeil added that the software itself is the product of MediaSpark IT Solutions Inc.

All three Cape Breton CBDC offices have a site license and product for fifteen concurrent participants. The product will also be distributed to Regional Development Agencies, CAP sites, Career Resource Centres, and other like-minded groups for use in their communities. MacNeil, who also chairs the Professional Development Committee of the Nova Scotia Association of the Community Business Development Centres says training will be provided to each site to ensure that users are able to get the most out of the software.

The license to use GoVenture was secured through an agreement between the Nova Scotia Association of Business Development Centres (CBDCs) and Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation.

Community Business Development Corporations (CBDCs) are a network of autonomous, not-for-profit companies working to meet the needs of small businesses in rural communities through partnership with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). CBDCs assist in the creation of small businesses and in the expansion and modernization of existing businesses by providing financial, technical, and business counseling services to entrepreneurs. There are 13 CBDCs in Nova Scotia that are part of a larger network of 41 offices in Atlantic Canada - each one dedicated to the development of small business and job creation in their communities.

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