Several events are being held for entrepreneurs and small businesses owners throughout October as the Okotoks & District Chamber of Commerce marks Small Business Month. 

“It’s a month designated to supporting local businesses as much as you possibly can,” said Dawn LeMaistre, the chamber’s executive director.

The chamber is holding five events that aim to support entrepreneurs and business leaders in the community, LeMaistre said. 

“We came up with five events that we felt gave us a good snippet of all angles of business,” she said. 

The chamber kicked off Small Business Month early with a networking event on Sept. 26, followed by Demistifying AI and Crypto Currency session that was held on Oct. 3.

The next event is a breakfast about growing business by building people on Wednesday, Oct. 11 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.. 

“That is really about staffing,” she said. “Your staff don’t come assembled; you need to assemble them.” 

A panel of guest speakers will discuss legal issues, human resources and training. 

Local word-record holder Dave Proctor is the keynote speaker for the next event, set for Thursday, Oct. 19 from 7 to 9 p.m. The ultra-marathoner is an Okotoks resident and business owner who will be talking about adapting to excel, LeMaistre said. 

Proctor launched an unsuccessful attempt to run across Canada in 2018, but was able to complete the journey during a second attempt in 2022. 

“He’s going to talk about his initial run that was in 2018, that was not a success, and what he changed and adapted to make his 2022 run a huge success,” she said. “We’re super excited to have him come out.” 

The final event is all about economic development and it is on Thursday, Oct. 26, from 7 to 9 p.m. It will explore what economic development looks like in a municipality, what role businesses play and how they can work together with the Town. 

“We’re going to dive deeper into that with a bunch of business owners who have worked really closely with Economic Development, and have them there as well,” she said.  

The events are open to members and guests of the chamber. 

Registration is in advance, with more information available at okotokschamber.ca.