P.E.I. Connectors help new investors find new opportunities

A bus load of potential business investors toured P.E.I.'s north shore Tuesday seeking new investment opportunities.

The P.E.I. Connectors tour has been taking place for five years but this will be the first time organizers will be doing a follow up study to measure the effectiveness of the tours and other services they offer.

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The group of 50 are participants in the immigrant investor program which assists them in finding investments on the Island.

The bus tour visited 17 businesses that are for sale or seeking investors from Brackley to Burlington, along the north shore.

600 newcomers helped

Their investment is part of the agreement that brought them to Canada. The tour is funded by the federal and provincial governments to introduce newcomers to business opportunities across P.E.I.

"Tourism is second largest industry on this island and Cavendish is the core of the industry on the island so I'm thinking if there's a better opportunity for me to invest here," said Holsen Wei, who moved to P.E.I. a year ago.

To date, P.E.I. Connectors has helped 600 newcomers with workshops and networking opportunities, in addition to bus tours.

"They're definitely effective in connecting our clients either with people who are looking for purchasers or investors.  As far as outcomes go, we are going to be following up with our clients over the next few months - clients who have been with us for sometime and those who are newer -- to find out from them," said Nicole Bellefleur, director of strategic initiatives, Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce.

"To do some surveying and some polling. To find out from them what the outcomes were. Did they pursue these opportunities? Did anything move forward to the due diligence stage or were there any transactions. So it's something we'll be looking at in the coming months."

Two more bus tours are planned for the fall, with one going to to eastern P.E.I., the other west.

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