In March, 2000, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency released a study entitled, "The State of Electronic Commerce in Atlantic Canada". The following is taken directly from the final report for the study by innovaQuest Inc. of Saint Johns, Newfoundland.

"Although Atlantic Canada is positioned to take advantage of the rapid growth in e-commerce, and has already achieved an enviable degree of connectivity on the Internet, it is not pursuing its advantage aggressively and is falling behind the United States. Further, evidence suggests that Atlantic Canada is now lagging behind the rest of Canada. Atlantic Canadian Small and medium Enterprises (SME's) are significant users of the Internet, but with the exception of Nova Scotia, which is at the national average, trail behind in developing an e-commerce presence. In general, the Internet is not playing a major business role among SME's in the region. If Atlantic Canada continues to fall behind the rest of Canada, then it may become too difficult to catch up in this fast developing economic area."

"SME's are lagging significantly and the single factor causing this lag is a lack of awareness of what e-commerce is and how it can benefit an SME. Relating to this awareness issue are the following factors:

1. Not only do SME's not understand the technology associated with e-commerce, but they lack a knowledge of the marketing skills and business strategies needed to succeed;
2. SME's ten not to acquire the mechanisms to provide full transaction capabilities on the internet;
3. There is a lack of knowledgeable bankers, and investors who are fully cognizant of the barriers and advantages of e-commerce;
4. There are misunderstandings among SME's and e-commerce service suppliers about the requirements and associated costs to set up a merchant account with a bank for internet transactions;
5. There is a need for ubiquitous high speed connectivity through Atlantic Canada so that SME's everywhere in the region can benefit equally'
6. There is a lack of co-ordinated governmental programming to assist and encourage SME's to participate in e-commerce.

Source: Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the State of Electronic commerce in Atlantic Canada, March 2000, innovaQuest Inc.

The Project

This project, conceived the Guysborough County Business Development Corporation (GCBDC), aims to bring the opportunities of e-commerce to Atlantic CBDC clients, first in Guysborough County, and then throughout the Atlantic Provinces. The GCBDC will select twelve ideal small businesses as participants for this pilot project from its client base throughout Guysborough County. The GCBDC will then partner with a multimedia firm to develop attractive and functional e-commerce enabled storefronts for each. Additionally, the GCBDC will co-ordinate a comprehensive training program for the intrepreneurs and their staff in effective e-commerce and online marketing skills. The GCBDC in co-operation with its multimedia contractor will administer the day to day workings of the project.

The duration of the pilot will be 15 months. Start-up, participant selection, training and site design will occur in the first three months, with site launches in month four. The operational phase of the project will be twelve months in duration. This will provide sufficient opportunity for the participating businesses to apply their new skills and assess the benefits of e-commerce for their business.

The e-commerce provider for the project will be Strategic Profits Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, the lead partner in the Industry Canada communitystorefronts.com pilot.

Strategic Profits Inc. (SPI) is providing the proven business model (Surefire Strategies for Making Money on the Internet), online training and marketing, web services platform, e-payment and eCRM for all the merchants. The mentoring environment, combined with the proven business and marketing strategies are key to the participants success. The project partners have taken the technology, security, privacy and trust concerns out of the decision - making equation for the participants allowing them to focus on making their online businesses a success over the next year. Watch for our online launch and our recurring promotional programs for madeinguysboroughcounty.com on www.communitystorefronts.com

This project is currently underway and we will be providing the link to the Guysborough marketplace upon completion of all the storefronts.

For more information:

In the Atlantic Provinces contact:
Troy Greencorn @ tgis@ns.sympatico.ca

In the Eastern Provinces contact:
Brad Robeson @ info@helpforcharities.com

In the Western Provinces contact:
Catherine Clarke @ info@communitystorefronts.com