1. Objectives of Our Meeting
Pilot program: Create high
paying jobs by connecting
students (in the region) to small
businesses.

2. Agenda
1. Research findings: What we’ve discovered about the challenges
facings businesses and CFDC’s in Northern Ontario
2. What is Flourish
3. Case Studies
4. Assets of the Program and benefits of businesses participating
5. Roundtable discussion
6. Discuss next steps

3. Our Research Indicates:

4. Challenges facing businesses
in Northern Ontario have a lack
of:
✓ Time
✓ New Customers
✓ Broadband Availability
✓ Qualified Talents
✓ How to leverage social media to get more customers
✓ How to stand out and differentiate

5. Challenges facing
CFDC’s is how to:
• Reduce failure rates – 9 out of 10 businesses fail within
the first 10 years.
• Create high paying jobs?
• Re-attract youth back into the region?
• Leverage limited funding between different
communities?
• Provide strategic value to local small businesses and
help them grow?

6. Problem we want to solve - Youth Unemployment
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
6

7. What does social media have to all with all of this?
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
7

8. How are large corporations using social media ?

9. How is Social Media Helping Businesses Grow?
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
9

10. How Flourish is using social media to create high
paying jobs
Flourish is a program designed by One Million Acts of
Innovation.
We help businesses (CFDCs included) access new
customers and new markets in a different & and refreshing
way.
We provide social media savvy students to businesses
challenged with time, creating engaging content and
having the right digital media strategy.

11. Why Businesses Should Hire Students from Flourish?
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

12. Case Studies:
CFDCs and Regional Innovation
Centres
12

13. Why CFDC supports One Million Acts of Innovation’s
Flourish program?
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
13

14. 8 months later - CFDC noticed job creation
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
14

15. Flourish helps regional innovation centre with
growth and creates jobs
QuickTime™ and a
mpeg4 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
15

16. Case Studies:
Small Businesses
16

17. Flourish helps small businesses grow and create jobs
QuickTime™ and a
mpeg4 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
17

18. Flourish students - remove FEAR
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

19. Case Studies:
Students in your region
19

20. Flourish students get high paying jobs
QuickTime™ and a
mpeg4 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
20

21. In addition to
everything... we have
capabilities no one else
offers
21

22. Tourisim/Retail/etc. can access ethnic markets
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

23. To see more case studies on how our program is
creating real business growth and helping to
create high paying jobs, please visit our website
at:
www.flourishsocialmedia.net

24. How is this different to
existing activities?
24

25. Small businesses are challenged
with:
The Flourish Program offers:
Time
Students who have time
How to get more customers
Proven model in how to leverage
social media to get new customers
Access to internet
Students working in various regions
where they already have access to
broadband
Creative and innovative thinking
students
A government funded program to
Rising cost of business and how to
help businesses leverage digital
leverage social media students
media by connecting them with social
media savvy students
How to differentiate

26. Existing
What’s different with Flourish
Seminars put by chambers/boards of
trade/etc. provide valuable content - but
no real economic activity gets created
Flourish students work with a business for
a period of six months - they set up &
optimize social media pages, develop a
custom social media marketing strategy
and execute it by creating content for
social media sites, build contact lists and
engage prospects and drive traffic back to
client’s business
Local schools provide interns to
businesses
Flourish screens businesses and students
and provides a dedicated PM to ensure
business objectives have been met.
26

27. Suggested Pilot Program
Year 1: Pilot
• Help small businesses get access to new
customers/new markets and grow
• Help youth in the region get the experience
they need to get high paying jobs
• We hire/work with local web designers to
Year 2:
Sustainability & project manage activities.
• One Million Acts of Innovation to leverage
Growth
experienced youth and provide them with
opportunities - help them setup their own
businesses
• Local retailers/ not for profits, etc. will have
access to a NEW pool of resources that they
27
don’t have access to now.

28. How would we deliver the program:
1.Road Tour - to all participating CFDCs/Schools/etc to
promote the program
2.Capture businesses/students and local web
designers/marketing agencies, etc.
3.Have everyone screened and trained and supported via
webinars.
4.Connect local students, businesses and have a local
project manager, manage them.
5.Provide ongoing reports and share results
28

29. Suggested Execution Plan:
1.Start with providing 25 students to committed CFDCs in
March 2014.
2.As we grow and gain momentum with CFDCs and
businesses, we will add 25 students - every 16 weeks.
3.We will notice business growth first. Over a longer period
we will notice contracts & job offers.
1. Here we will promote other government related incentives (digital
media tax credit, hire a full time employee tax credit, etc.)
4.We will ask experienced students to consider starting up
their own businesses and to market them as a resource to
ALL companies EVERYWHERE.
29

30. Some of our assets include:
• Experience: We are a global non profit with experience in helping
businesses in various communities, increase their revenues AND
create high paying jobs for the youth. We also have experience working
with over 17 universities/colleges/trade schools.
• We are neutral: We are not sponsored by any
university/college/technology platform and e remain neutral.
• Can provide a sustainable approach : We work with local
social media experts/SEO/Web design consultants and engage them in
our program in order to sustain the program once we are gone.

31. Participating businesses will exprience:
• An increase in customers & productivity - by
outsourcing their marketing to our social media savvy students.
• Limited need for broadband: Students working
remotely have access to broadband and hence limit the need
for broadband use - in remote areas
• Refreshing Ideas: Flourish students are highly creative
and engaging
• How to leverage social media to grow: train
people in how to fish vs. fishing for them.
• Increased cash flow: more and more of their marketing
will be on social media vs. print, TV or other social media
platform.

32. Questions we have for you:

33. Do you see anything we need to
add in that would make a
difference to the results we want
to produce?

34. Let’s assume we’ve completed a
small pilot program....

35. How would this be helpful to you &
your organization?

36. How would this be helpful to
businesses in your local area?

37. How would this be helpful to other
stakeholders?

38. Assume we added something that
would make this project REAL
EXCITING (something truly
different)– what would it be?

39. Results we are looking for
A pilot program that will create
high paying jobs for the youth
in the region by connecting
them to local small businesses
39

40. 1 last thing - we think we will
have ‘unexpected’ and side
effects from this project.
40

41. Possible side effects:
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
41

42. Promise of the program in your region is a
proven framework that will deliver the follwing:
1.Enhance the effectiveness of participating CFDCs
2.Growth for small/local businesses (in terms of customers
and brand awareness)
3.Access to ethnic markets
4.Increased employment (contract or full time) in the region
5.A series of ‘un-expected positive events’
42

43. If FedNor was sponsoring the
outcomes created what would be
your requested budget?

44. What are your suggested next steps?

45. Some of our sponsors/supporters include:

46. Thank you for your
time!
Contact information:
Taimour Zaman: Flourish’ Program Executive and CEO of One Million
Acts of Innovation. taimour@onemillionactsofinnovation.org
(416.629.7924)