Earlier this week Small Business Minister Iain Black said that supporting a culture of entrepreneurship and simplifying the regulatory environment are key parts of a new three-year plan to guide the provincial government’s support for small businesses.

“In the next 10 years, there will a million jobs in B.C. that need to be filled,” Black said in an interview after announcing the plan during his speech at the Vancouver Board of Trade. “Our challenge is we only have 800,000 to replace them. So, we must engage our First Nations community and engage women in the workforce like never before.

“And entrepreneurship is the most efficient and effective [way] to meet those challenges in both those demographics.”

Black made the comments after releasing the Action Plan for Small Business 2010-13 (PDF), which will focus on six strategies meant to make it easier to “open, operate and expand a business in B.C.”

One of Black’s six strategies is to “foster a culture of entrepreneurship, through Small Business Month, Junior Achievement and New Ventures BC”.

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