Dreams wanted

Free program will turn business ideas into reality

A new program will help Cape Bretoners turn their creativity into their own business.

As part of the Creative Island initiative, the Cape Breton Partnership is teaming up with Mashup Lab — a Bridgewater-based organization that supports rural entrepreneurs — to bring the Dream Business Program to Cape Breton, for free, for the first time.

The program takes 10 people and their new business ideas through all the stages of turning their business dreams into a reality.

The six-month program combines live online group sessions with one-on-one coaching and mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs. At the halfway mark, participants present their fledgling businesses to a group of entrepreneurs and business experts. Upon completing the program, they receive a startup kit of more than $5,000 worth of services, such as accounting, sales, branding and marketing.

Creative Island, which is an initiative of the Cape Breton Partnership, with support from Cape Breton University and the province, will run the free Mashup Lab’s Dream Business Program eight times over the next two years. That could mean as many as 80 new businesses around the island.

“Cape Breton has a lot of creative people with great ideas,” Carla Arsenault, president and CEO of the Cape Breton Partnership, said in a news release. “With the support through a program like Mashup Lab’s Dream Business Program, we’re confident more of that creativity can be turned into prosperity for communities around the island.”

Applications are open now for the program, which kicks off Sept. 11, and is open to anyone in Cape Breton with any kind of business idea at any stage of development. To apply or learn more about the Dream Business collaboration with Mashup Lab, visit www.thecreativeisland.com/dreambusiness.