When the coronavirus pandemic shut down offices across North America, Mohawk College Enterprise (MCE), needed a new way of doing business.
“One of the things that happened to us when everything shut down at the end of March was we lost all of our clients,” said Audie McCarthy, CEO of MCE. “We’re a face-to-face training company. Everything we do is face to face. And of course, that can’t happen.”
Instead of waiting for physical distancing limitations to end, MCE developed an action plan to continue offering its corporate training activities.
“What we did right away is we started connecting with our customers and mostly just to see if they were OK. Then we said we’ll be in touch in a month or so when we know what’s going on,” said McCarthy.
From there, MCE began converting all of its content to virtual learning.
“That’s brand new to us; we’ve never really done anything by virtual learning,” said McCarthy. “So, it was a pretty quick turnaround.”
McCarthy worked with two instructional designers to complete the new virtual program. MCE then delivered three complimentary one-hour webinars to all of its customers to get them used to the virtual environment.
“And I think that went over really well,” said McCarthy. “A lot of organizations didn’t layoff right away, but they had a lot of people who didn’t have a lot to do. So, allowing them to continue with their professional development and not having it cost a lot of money, I think they found that helpful.”
MCE works with a variety of clients, from municipalities to manufacturing, retail, health sciences and other educational sectors. The business is based at Mohawk College's Stoney Creek campus.
MCE is known for its Future Ready Leadership Program, an eight-day program that includes communication skills, dealing with conflict, leadership dynamics, team building, presentation skills and building the next steps in the leadership journey.
In late-June, McCarthy found out MCE had won a $10,000 grant from the Canadian Business Reliance Network Small Business Relief Fund. The program was managed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and funded by Salesforce.
More than 1,100 small businesses across Canada applied for the grants. MCE was one of just 62 successful applicants.
McCarthy was thrilled by the announcement.
“We are very grateful,” she said.
McCarthy said MCE plans to use the grant money to develop a series of “microlearning” opportunities, consisting of 15-to 20-minute presentations offered complimentary to customers on YouTube.
“It will allow (clients) to stay up-to-date on what’s relevant right now and offer some tips to keep them going,” said McCarthy. “So, I think we can talk about resiliency in a leader and things to look out for in your remote team.”
Moving forward, post-pandemic, MCE plans to offer its services in three formats: one-on-one, a blended model of in-person and virtual, and a fully virtual model.
Pre-pandemic, MCE had 14.5 full-time equivalent employees. That’s down to seven employees now, who are currently working from home.
“But we’re hoping, as business picks up, by the fall we’ll be able to bring back some people on a part-time basis,” McCarthy noted.
MCE is a member of the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce. Chamber executive director Patti Hall said MCE offers a success story and an example of resiliency during a tough time for the local business community.
“We are absolutely thrilled that one of our members was chosen to receive one of these very prestigious grants,” Hall said. “We are immensely proud of MCE as they provide quality training programs and we are honoured to have a long-standing relationship with them …. They continued to display resilience and we know that these needed funds will be used to continue to adapt their business and serve their customers and lead them through to recovery.”
Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber, said choosing the 62 grant recipients was no easy decision.
“Reviewing the applications was inspiring as it was heartbreaking. I wish that we could be in a position to help many others, but I’m glad that we will be able to do even this much,” he said. “But today is a happy waypoint, not an end point, and we won’t stop finding new ways to help Canada’s businesses reopen and recover. We’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Margaret Stuart, Canada country manager at Salesforce, hopes the grants will provide needed support to help small business owners return to work.
“It has been incredible to see the resilience coming from Canada’s small business owners over the last few months. We know it hasn’t been easy,” said Stuart. “The applicants have further demonstrated what we at Salesforce already knew to be true — that Canada is rich with innovation and entrepreneurial talent.”
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down offices across North America, Mohawk College Enterprise (MCE), needed a new way of doing business.
“One of the things that happened to us when everything shut down at the end of March was we lost all of our clients,” said Audie McCarthy, CEO of MCE. “We’re a face-to-face training company. Everything we do is face to face. And of course, that can’t happen.”
Instead of waiting for physical distancing limitations to end, MCE developed an action plan to continue offering its corporate training activities.
“What we did right away is we started connecting with our customers and mostly just to see if they were OK. Then we said we’ll be in touch in a month or so when we know what’s going on,” said McCarthy.
From there, MCE began converting all of its content to virtual learning.
“That’s brand new to us; we’ve never really done anything by virtual learning,” said McCarthy. “So, it was a pretty quick turnaround.”
McCarthy worked with two instructional designers to complete the new virtual program. MCE then delivered three complimentary one-hour webinars to all of its customers to get them used to the virtual environment.
“And I think that went over really well,” said McCarthy. “A lot of organizations didn’t layoff right away, but they had a lot of people who didn’t have a lot to do. So, allowing them to continue with their professional development and not having it cost a lot of money, I think they found that helpful.”
MCE works with a variety of clients, from municipalities to manufacturing, retail, health sciences and other educational sectors. The business is based at Mohawk College's Stoney Creek campus.
MCE is known for its Future Ready Leadership Program, an eight-day program that includes communication skills, dealing with conflict, leadership dynamics, team building, presentation skills and building the next steps in the leadership journey.
In late-June, McCarthy found out MCE had won a $10,000 grant from the Canadian Business Reliance Network Small Business Relief Fund. The program was managed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and funded by Salesforce.
More than 1,100 small businesses across Canada applied for the grants. MCE was one of just 62 successful applicants.
McCarthy was thrilled by the announcement.
“We are very grateful,” she said.
McCarthy said MCE plans to use the grant money to develop a series of “microlearning” opportunities, consisting of 15-to 20-minute presentations offered complimentary to customers on YouTube.
“It will allow (clients) to stay up-to-date on what’s relevant right now and offer some tips to keep them going,” said McCarthy. “So, I think we can talk about resiliency in a leader and things to look out for in your remote team.”
Moving forward, post-pandemic, MCE plans to offer its services in three formats: one-on-one, a blended model of in-person and virtual, and a fully virtual model.
Pre-pandemic, MCE had 14.5 full-time equivalent employees. That’s down to seven employees now, who are currently working from home.
“But we’re hoping, as business picks up, by the fall we’ll be able to bring back some people on a part-time basis,” McCarthy noted.
MCE is a member of the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce. Chamber executive director Patti Hall said MCE offers a success story and an example of resiliency during a tough time for the local business community.
“We are absolutely thrilled that one of our members was chosen to receive one of these very prestigious grants,” Hall said. “We are immensely proud of MCE as they provide quality training programs and we are honoured to have a long-standing relationship with them …. They continued to display resilience and we know that these needed funds will be used to continue to adapt their business and serve their customers and lead them through to recovery.”
Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber, said choosing the 62 grant recipients was no easy decision.
“Reviewing the applications was inspiring as it was heartbreaking. I wish that we could be in a position to help many others, but I’m glad that we will be able to do even this much,” he said. “But today is a happy waypoint, not an end point, and we won’t stop finding new ways to help Canada’s businesses reopen and recover. We’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Margaret Stuart, Canada country manager at Salesforce, hopes the grants will provide needed support to help small business owners return to work.
“It has been incredible to see the resilience coming from Canada’s small business owners over the last few months. We know it hasn’t been easy,” said Stuart. “The applicants have further demonstrated what we at Salesforce already knew to be true — that Canada is rich with innovation and entrepreneurial talent.”
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down offices across North America, Mohawk College Enterprise (MCE), needed a new way of doing business.
“One of the things that happened to us when everything shut down at the end of March was we lost all of our clients,” said Audie McCarthy, CEO of MCE. “We’re a face-to-face training company. Everything we do is face to face. And of course, that can’t happen.”
Instead of waiting for physical distancing limitations to end, MCE developed an action plan to continue offering its corporate training activities.
“What we did right away is we started connecting with our customers and mostly just to see if they were OK. Then we said we’ll be in touch in a month or so when we know what’s going on,” said McCarthy.
From there, MCE began converting all of its content to virtual learning.
“That’s brand new to us; we’ve never really done anything by virtual learning,” said McCarthy. “So, it was a pretty quick turnaround.”
McCarthy worked with two instructional designers to complete the new virtual program. MCE then delivered three complimentary one-hour webinars to all of its customers to get them used to the virtual environment.
“And I think that went over really well,” said McCarthy. “A lot of organizations didn’t layoff right away, but they had a lot of people who didn’t have a lot to do. So, allowing them to continue with their professional development and not having it cost a lot of money, I think they found that helpful.”
MCE works with a variety of clients, from municipalities to manufacturing, retail, health sciences and other educational sectors. The business is based at Mohawk College's Stoney Creek campus.
MCE is known for its Future Ready Leadership Program, an eight-day program that includes communication skills, dealing with conflict, leadership dynamics, team building, presentation skills and building the next steps in the leadership journey.
In late-June, McCarthy found out MCE had won a $10,000 grant from the Canadian Business Reliance Network Small Business Relief Fund. The program was managed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and funded by Salesforce.
More than 1,100 small businesses across Canada applied for the grants. MCE was one of just 62 successful applicants.
McCarthy was thrilled by the announcement.
“We are very grateful,” she said.
McCarthy said MCE plans to use the grant money to develop a series of “microlearning” opportunities, consisting of 15-to 20-minute presentations offered complimentary to customers on YouTube.
“It will allow (clients) to stay up-to-date on what’s relevant right now and offer some tips to keep them going,” said McCarthy. “So, I think we can talk about resiliency in a leader and things to look out for in your remote team.”
Moving forward, post-pandemic, MCE plans to offer its services in three formats: one-on-one, a blended model of in-person and virtual, and a fully virtual model.
Pre-pandemic, MCE had 14.5 full-time equivalent employees. That’s down to seven employees now, who are currently working from home.
“But we’re hoping, as business picks up, by the fall we’ll be able to bring back some people on a part-time basis,” McCarthy noted.
MCE is a member of the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce. Chamber executive director Patti Hall said MCE offers a success story and an example of resiliency during a tough time for the local business community.
“We are absolutely thrilled that one of our members was chosen to receive one of these very prestigious grants,” Hall said. “We are immensely proud of MCE as they provide quality training programs and we are honoured to have a long-standing relationship with them …. They continued to display resilience and we know that these needed funds will be used to continue to adapt their business and serve their customers and lead them through to recovery.”
Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber, said choosing the 62 grant recipients was no easy decision.
“Reviewing the applications was inspiring as it was heartbreaking. I wish that we could be in a position to help many others, but I’m glad that we will be able to do even this much,” he said. “But today is a happy waypoint, not an end point, and we won’t stop finding new ways to help Canada’s businesses reopen and recover. We’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Margaret Stuart, Canada country manager at Salesforce, hopes the grants will provide needed support to help small business owners return to work.
“It has been incredible to see the resilience coming from Canada’s small business owners over the last few months. We know it hasn’t been easy,” said Stuart. “The applicants have further demonstrated what we at Salesforce already knew to be true — that Canada is rich with innovation and entrepreneurial talent.”