The fledgling Alberta chapter of an international group of businesswomen is on centre stage this month as it hosts a global conference focusing on innovation and trade.
Up to 200 delegates – some from Lesotho, Cameroon, Peru and Estonia – are heading to Calgary for the two-day meeting of OWIT, the Organization of Women in International Trade.
“Traditionally, there haven’t been a lot of women going into the field of international trade. That’s really where OWIT started, getting more women interested in looking at international markets for their products,” says Leann Hackman-Carty, president of OWIT-Alberta.
With just 30 members and only the second chapter in Canada after Ontario, the year-old Alberta group is a relative newcomer to the non-profit OWIT, which provides networking and educational opportunities to members around the world.
But Hackman-Carty says this year’s conference, which will examine links between innovation and international trade, is a huge opportunity for Alberta businesses to plug into new markets and contacts.
“The big value is all these women and men – but the majority are women – are going to be coming from around the world to Calgary, and they’ll get the value of their membership” right away, she says.
The group doesn’t exclude men, although women make up most of the 1,500-OWIT membership. “The gender issue is not an issue for me . . . it’s not a feminist organization,” says Hackman-Carty. “I want to talk to someone who understands my business, and find out what they’re going through. And if I trust them, I’ll do business with them. That’s what fuels my interest.”
A former vice-president of Calgary’s economic development agency, Hackman-Carty is now involved in her own enterprise called The Groovy Gardener, a company that develops and promotes garden designs and products.
She says one of the highlights of this year’s conference is the $43,000 sponsorship by the Canadian International Development Agency to bring in eight delegates from developing countries, all women running their own businesses or leading business organizations.
“I know when these women go home, they’ll have a rejuvenated sense of business and what they want to do, and new contacts, and they’ll be hugely successful when they go back,” she says.
The opportunity to broaden the horizons for her business also appeals to Brenda Caron, president of Calgary-based Control Chemical Corp., a company that manufactures environmentally friendly industrial fluids and lubricants.
“I’ve always been interested in organizations that deal in international business, and I use it mainly as a networking tool . . . to get connections, meet people and learn things,” says Caron, past-president of the Canadian Council for the Americas, a Calgary-based group that provides links and networking opportunities to businesses in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Organizing a conference on this scale, particularly with representation from so many countries, is an “absolutely phenomenal” effort for the small group of women who have started the chapter, she adds.
Like Hackman-Carty, Caron didn’t join the group simply because it was focused on women in trade.
“I work in a basically male-oriented business with few women,” she says. “And I know you have to work very hard to get where you are and be respected in the business.
“But you know, I grew up with brothers and never had any sisters, so for me it doesn’t have to be just women. It’s simply a different perspective.”
The OWIT conference, with its theme of Innovation: Your Competitive Trade Advantage in the Global Marketplace, will be held at the Westin Hotel in downtown Calgary Sept. 10-12.
Web watch:
www.owit.org
