MONTREAL/December 14, 1999—
Concordia University's Entrepreneurship Institute for the Development of Minority Communities (EIDMC) and the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) are pleased to announce a partnership to deliver entrepreneurship training to members of the First Nations, Black and African communities and other visible minorities. The partnership extends the CBA's Entrepreneurial Spirit program to meet the EIDMC's programming initiatives.
ìWe are pleased to join with Concordia in bringing our Entrepreneurial Spirit program to Quebec,î said Michael Green, Regional Director, Ontario, of the Canadian Bankers Association, with national responsibilities for Aboriginal banking. ìThe Entrepreneurial Spirit is a business education initiative that was developed for and originally targeted at Aboriginal youth, providing an introduction to entrepreneurship and teaching the business skills needed to start and develop a small business.î
The Entrepreneurial Spirit is part of Building a Better Understanding, a comprehensive program launched by Canada's banks in January 1998 to provide Canadians with more information on the economy, banking, and today's financial world. ìWe have been delighted with the response to this program in other provinces and, with the strength of Concordia's existing entrepreneurship program and the university's commitment to diversity, anticipate that it will be a welcome initiative in Quebec.î
Concordia has a long history of working with minorities. The Center for Native Education has been serving the First Nations peoples for about six years. The Black Initiatives Program also came on stream about two years ago to serve the formal education needs of the Black community. According to Clarence Bayne, Director of the EIDMC, ìWe are answering the call to balance the equation by offering training in business, entrepreneurship, and community organization development to the Black community and the Cree Nations. Our partnership with the Cree communities has been well established for more than two years. Joining forces with the CBA Entrepreneurial Spirit program is EIDMC's first collaboration with the private sector.î
A reception celebrating the partnership will be held on Thursday, December 16, 1999 at 10:30 a.m. at 1550 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West (room 403-2). Representatives of the EIDMC and the Canadian Bankers Association will be present to speak with journalists.
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