Category Archives: Smart Biz

app development, ExtraExtra, featured, Smart Biz, SMART Work, SmartLife, technology, Uncategorized

Preserving indigenous languages one app at a time

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Ogoki Learning Inc. is the world leader when it comes to language apps

Canada’s Aboriginal languages are many and diverse, and their importance to indigenous people immense. During the past 100 years or more, nearly ten, once flourishing languages have become extinct; at least a dozen more are on the brink of extinction. When these languages vanish, they take with them unique ways of looking at the world.

Ogoki Learning Inc. is trying to preserve indigenous languages one app at a time.

It all started when Darrick Baxter, President of Ogoki Learning, created an Ojibwe language app for smartphones and tablets. Soon after the release, he noticed the app was doing what he hoped it would, teaching kids the Ojibwe language while keeping them engaged through mobile devices.

From that moment Baxter, who grew up in Winnipeg’s North End, knew he had to share the app with everyone, so he released the app for free.

Continue reading Preserving indigenous languages one app at a time →

blog, development, ExtraExtra, featured, Smart Biz, SmartHealth, SmartLife

Pedal in the Peg

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Pedal in the Peg was launched in 2015 as a pilot bike rental program with participating downtown hotels to support and promote cycling in the downtown.

Funded by the City of Winnipeg’s Active Transportation and supported by the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ’s

Transportation Committee, the program was modeled after successful bike rental programs established in cities across North America.

The program proved to be successful and this year will be offered from downtown businesses to guests,

customers, clients and/or employees, as well as to the general public.

The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ provides participating businesses with:

  • 1-4 Bicycles with baskets
  • Bike locks
  • Bike lights,
  • Helmets
  • Bike racks (if needed)
  • Monthly Bike maintenance

This year, hotels such as The Alt Hotel, Delta Winnipeg and Holiday Inn & Suites will be participating in the program with more businesses yet to be confirmed. Be sure to look out for the Pedal in the Peg launch and visit participating businesses to rent your bike this summer!

For more information about the Pedal in the Peg program, visit www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com.

blog, economic, ExtraExtra, featured, Smart Biz, Smart Careers, trades

They’ve got skills

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National skills competition brings the country’s best to Winnipeg.

An expected 18,000 visitors and more than 500 youth are heading to Winnipeg this month for the 2017 Skills/Compétences Canada competition.

The event takes place May 31 to June 3, 2017, at the RBC Convention Centre.

The competition, which is in it’s 23rd year, will see Canada’s top youth and apprentices who are enrolled in trades training programs in colleges and high schools across Canada showcasing their skills. The competitions are represented in six sectors: Construction, Employment, Information Technology, Manufacturing and Engineering, Transportation, and Service.

Skills Canada says the event provides tremendous opportunities for students from not only the province of Manitoba, but the entire country, to develop a stronger appreciation for the importance of skilled trades and technology careers.

In the next 10 years it is expected there is going to be a demand for close to 12,000 jobs for skilled workers in the construction industry alone in Manitoba.

This past April, over 500 students took part in the 20th Annual Skills Manitoba competition at Red River College. Students competed in over 40 different contests with a chance to represent Manitoba at the upcoming Skills Canada event.

Every two years, the winners of the Skills Canada National Competition go on to compete at the WorldSkills Competition, where their skills are put to the test at an international level against the best in the world. Manitobans Ashley Weber and Silas Meeches will be a part of World Skills Team Canada 2017 taking place in Abu Dhabi October 14th to 19th.

blog, entrepreneurs, featured, local business, SEO for business, small businesses, Smart Biz, SmartJobs, social media

10 reasons why your business needs a blog

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Blogging is one of the best ways that a business can connect with their customers and increase revenue, so why aren’t more businesses investing in a content strategy?

Honestly: it’s because most people don’t see the value in blogging.

Content creation is often seen as a waste of money because it can be hard to connect the ROI of blogging to sales, but below we’ll go over a few key reasons why you should be rethinking blogging for your business, and why content creation should always be included in your digital marketing strategy:

Continue reading 10 reasons why your business needs a blog →

Bold Ideas, development, entrepreneurs, featured, local business, Smart Biz, SMART Work, SmartLife

Building companies one Lego brick at a time

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Local entrepreneur using Lego to help companies with problem-solving and team-building.

Remember all those times you were playing with your Lego as a child and you would build the most amazing buildings, houses, farms, or cities that anyone has ever seen? Maybe it wasn’t even as a child, it could have been yesterday because Lego is timeless and fun for people of all ages.

Well, what if there was actually a deeper meaning into everything you created, and you were actually telling a story about yourself as you were building? One local entrepreneur has been helping people and companies realize this with one brick of Lego at a time.

Kristen Klassen is the President and CEO of Brickstorming, a business facilitation, educational consultancy, and visual artistry company specializing in the Lego Serious Play method.

Continue reading Building companies one Lego brick at a time →