Upcoming Events
AI Pathway Grow Smarter: AI for Product-Market Fit
Move beyond AI prompts and discover how AI can help you solve real business challenges. Attend one workshop or all five!
THE WORKSHOP
AI won't fix a fuzzy strategy. It just produces polished noise faster.
Use AI to get sharp on who you serve, why they buy, and where you stand against the competition before spending a dollar on marketing.
You'll build a Product-Market Fit Snapshot for your own business that you can immediately begin testing.
Whether you're launching something new, struggling to attract the right customers, or looking to grow an established business, this session will help you replace assumptions with evidence and leave with a clearer strategy for moving forward.
What To Expect
After a guided presentation about learning how to use AI as a strategic research partner, you'll work directly on your own business with support from mentors and AI tools to:
Define or refine your Ideal Customer Profile.
Generate customer interview questions to validate demand.
Compare your positioning against competitors.Strengthen your value proposition.
Create a practical validation plan you can begin using immediately.
ABOUT THE SERIES
This session is the first event in Grow Smarter: The AI Pathway, a five-part workshop series designed to you use AI as a practical business tool to move the needle on common business problems.
Each event combines:
Pre-session materials and preparation exercises
Expert-led instruction
Mentor-supported hands-on application
Participant workbook activities
A practical business deliverable you can implement immediately
Networking opportunities and light refreshments
Attend individual sessions or join the full series to build an AI-enabled growth plan for your business. Register with your team and get 10% off: for 2+ tickets use code TEAM10
AI Pathway Grow Smarter: AI for Demand Generation
Move beyond AI prompts and discover how AI can help you solve real business challenges. Attend one workshop or all five!
THE WORKSHOP
Creating more content won't grow your business. Creating the right content will.
Use AI to build a focused, differentiated demand generation engine from awareness through nurture without sounding generic.
Creating more content does not always create more customers. Successful marketing starts with understanding your audience, delivering the right message, and consistently showing up where your customers are looking. This session will show you how AI can help you do that more efficiently while keeping your marketing authentic and aligned with your business.
You will create a practical AI assisted marketing campaign tailored to your business.
Whether you are promoting a new business, growing an established company, or looking to improve your current marketing efforts, you will leave with practical tools and a campaign you can continue building after the session.
What To Expect
After a guided presentation about using AI to build a focused, differentiated demand generation strategy, you'll work directly on your own business with support from mentors and AI tools to:
Generate campaign themes for your ideal audience.
Build a content plan based on your customers' needs and pain points.
Develop a lead magnet or value offer.
Draft an email or social media campaign.Strengthen your calls to action to encourage meaningful engagement.
ABOUT THE SERIES
This session is the first event in Grow Smarter: The AI Pathway, a five-part workshop series designed to you use AI as a practical business tool to move the needle on common business problems.
Each event combines:
Pre-session materials and preparation exercises
Expert-led instruction
Mentor-supported hands-on application
Participant workbook activities
A practical business deliverable you can implement immediately
Networking opportunities and light refreshments
Attend individual sessions or join the full series to build an AI-enabled growth plan for your business. Register with your team and get 10% off: for 2+ tickets use code TEAM10
AI Pathway Grow Smarter: AI to Automate Key Processes
Move beyond AI prompts and discover how AI can help you solve real business challenges. Attend one workshop or all five!
THE WORKSHOP
Before you ask AI to do more, decide what's actually worth doing.
Use AI to identify the highest value opportunities to improve productivity and understand where to use assistants, automation, agents, or vibe apps.
You'll redesign a real business workflow and build a Productivity Use Case Blueprint you can begin implementing immediately.
Whether you're overwhelmed by repetitive tasks, looking to improve efficiency, or exploring how AI can support your team, this session will help you identify practical opportunities to save time, improve consistency, and focus on higher value work.
What To Expect
After a guided presentation on identifying AI opportunities and improving business workflows, you'll work directly on your own business with support from mentors and AI tools to:
Map a current workflow and identify bottlenecks.
Redesign that workflow using AI to improve speed, quality, or consistency.
Create reusable prompts and instructions for an AI assistant.
Prioritize AI opportunities based on value, feasibility, and risk.
ABOUT THE SERIES
This session is the first event in Grow Smarter: The AI Pathway, a five-part workshop series designed to you use AI as a practical business tool to move the needle on common business problems.
Each event combines:
Pre-session materials and preparation exercises
Expert-led instruction
Mentor-supported hands-on application
Participant workbook activities
A practical business deliverable you can implement immediately
Networking opportunities and light refreshments
Attend individual sessions or join the full series to build an AI-enabled growth plan for your business. Register with your team and get 10% off: for 2+ tickets use code TEAM10
AI Pathway Grow Smarter: AI for Financial Planning
Move beyond AI prompts and discover how AI can help you solve real business challenges. Attend one workshop or all five!
THE WORKSHOP
AI won't replace financial judgment. It helps you strengthen it.
Use AI to strengthen your financial planning by testing assumptions, exploring scenarios, and telling a clearer financial story.
You'll build a Financial Planning Scenario Snapshot that helps you make more informed business decisions.
Whether you're planning for growth, evaluating new opportunities, or trying to better understand the financial impact of your decisions, this session will show you how AI can become a valuable thinking partner while keeping professional financial advice where it belongs.
What To Expect
After a guided presentation on using AI to support financial planning and decision making, you'll work directly on your own business with support from mentors and AI tools to:
Identify the key financial drivers in your business.
Create or improve a simple revenue model.
Explore best case, base case, and downside scenarios.
Build a clearer financial story to support planning, funding, or strategic decisions.
ABOUT THE SERIES
This session is the first event in Grow Smarter: The AI Pathway, a five-part workshop series designed to you use AI as a practical business tool to move the needle on common business problems.
Each event combines:
Pre-session materials and preparation exercises
Expert-led instruction
Mentor-supported hands-on application
Participant workbook activities
A practical business deliverable you can implement immediately
Networking opportunities and light refreshments
Attend individual sessions or join the full series to build an AI-enabled growth plan for your business. Register with your team and get 10% off: for 2+ tickets use code TEAM10
AI Pathway Grow Smarter: AI for Succession Planning & Growth
Move beyond AI prompts and discover how AI can help you solve real business challenges. Attend one workshop or all five!
THE WORKSHOP
AI won't replace leadership, but it can help you build a business that lasts.
Use AI to build a more resilient business by reducing owner dependency, documenting critical knowledge, and planning for long term growth.
You'll create a Succession and Growth Readiness Roadmap tailored to your business.
Whether you're planning for retirement, preparing your business for future growth, or simply looking to create stronger systems and leadership capacity, this session will help you think strategically about the future while identifying practical steps you can begin taking today.
What To Expect
After a guided presentation on using AI to support succession planning and long term business growth, you'll work directly on your own business with support from mentors and AI tools to:
Assess where your business relies too heavily on the owner or a small number of key people.
Identify opportunities to document knowledge, improve processes, and delegate responsibilities.
Explore growth opportunities using AI assisted scenario planning.
Build a practical roadmap to strengthen business continuity and long term value.
ABOUT THE SERIES
This session is the first event in Grow Smarter: The AI Pathway, a five-part workshop series designed to you use AI as a practical business tool to move the needle on common business problems.
Each event combines:
Pre-session materials and preparation exercises
Expert-led instruction
Mentor-supported hands-on application
Participant workbook activities
A practical business deliverable you can implement immediately
Networking opportunities and light refreshments
Attend individual sessions or join the full series to build an AI-enabled growth plan for your business. Register with your team and get 10% off: for 2+ tickets use code TEAM10
The Social Enterprise Journey: Session 1
Led by Jessica Flynn, Social Innovation Fellow with Georgian College, the Journey is a three-part series for business owners, founders, and leaders who are building ventures that are both financially sustainable and meaningfully impactful.
Across three gatherings — May 22, June 19, and September 11, 2026 — participants will:
• Explore the root causes of the challenges they care about
• Map stakeholders and power dynamics shaping their work
• Develop a Theory of Change for their initiative
• Identify sustainable, revenue-aligned models for lasting impact
Advanced AI Workshop & Networking BBQ
Missed getting tickets to our Advanced AI Workshop on June 27?
Join us after the workshop for a networking BBQ! This will be an opportunity to connect with other local entrepreneurs with the same dedication to innovating in their business.
Why Attend?
Enjoy a delicious BBQ meal provided by Living Water Resort (gluten free and veggie options available)
Connect with the GB Accelerator team to learn more about our programs
Ask workshop participants what they learned and connect with our AI Mentors.
📅 Thursday, June 27
🕛 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
📍 Atoka House, Collingwood ON
Georgian Bay Accelerator Community Meetup
On May 30th, we’re hosting the first GB Accelerator Community Meetup.
This event will bring together our community of mentors, alumni, current companies and startup ecosystem players to connect and spark magic.
This meetup will be a casual way for you to connect with high-growth South Georgian Bay companies, meet our pool of incredible mentors, and ultimately, nurture collaboration in our local entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Hosted in partnership with the Small Business Development Centre and The Collingwood Foundry, this event will be a great mix of networking, fun and mutual support!
The details
One drink ticket per guest
Light appetizers will be provided
Refreshements and food available for purchase
Limited space available so grab your ticket asap
Rising Tides: A Pitch Night
Rising Tides is an opportunity for 4 local entrepreneurs to share what they’ve been working on and ask an audience of community supporters for whatever they need to get their business to the next level! After all, a rising tide lifts all boats.
You Should Attend If You Are:
an entrepreneur with experience to share
a lover of the South Georgian Bay and your fellow SGBers
an investor looking for unique opportunities
a consumer of local goods and services
Get you tickets starting April 23rd
Rising Tides: A Pitch Night (Application Deadline)
It is time to make a BIG step for your business growth. Whether you have an established business with big plans to grow or you have been working to launch a new business, we want to give you the spotlight.
That is why the Collingwood Foundry is hosting the Rising Tides Pitch Night. This event will be a chance for 4 local entrepreneurs to share what they’ve been working on and ask an audience of community supporters for whatever they need to get their business to the next level!
This event will provide a comfortable space for you to gain practical experience and valuable feedback on your 5-minute pitch and presentation, and tangible solutions to barriers you are currently facing.
Eligible entrepreneurs have:
- Been working on their business for at least one year (starting from when you had the idea)
- Have growth goals for the business
- Are looking for support and new perspective to reach those goals
Selected pitchers will have 5 minutes to pitch and up to 15 minutes for feedback, questions, and gives from the audience.
The pitches will take place on Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00pm
Innovation Unleashed: Turbocharge Your Business with AI
If you attened this event in February, this will be an exact repeat for those who were on the waitlist. Tickets will open to the waitlist first, and then to the public on March 18th.
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Join us for a morning of inspiration and networking at the "Entrepreneur Breakfast Meet-up", hosted by Georgian Bay Accelerator and the South Georgian Bay Small Business Enterprise Center!
Whether you've never used AI or have been exploring it since it exploded into the business world last year - this event will be an opportunity to learn how to leverage AI as a growth tool for your business.
Our speaker, Jon Gillham from Collingwood-based Originality.AI will answer questions like:
Which AI tools should you be exploring?
What should you use AI for? What shouldn't you?
Where is the best place to start?
Fuel your entrepreneurial spirit with coffee and pastries while mingling with like-minded individuals.
Mark your calendar for Thursday, April 18th from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, at the Collingwood Library (room TBA). Don't miss this opportunity to network, learn, and take your business to the next level!
Admission to this event is $10 and includes coffee and pastries.
Innovation Unleashed: Turbocharge Your Business with AI
Please note: This event is currently sold out. You can join the waitlist.
Learn how to elevate your use of AI in your business at our in-person breakfast meetup on Feb 21 @ 10AM. Enjoy fresh coffee and pastries.
Join us for a morning of inspiration and networking at the "Entrepreneur Breakfast Meet-up", hosted by Georgian Bay Accelerator and the South Georgian Bay Small Business Enterprise Center!
Whether you've never used AI or have been exploring it since it exploded into the business world last year - this event will be an opportunity to learn to leverage AI as a growth tool for your business.
Our speaker, Jon Gillham from Originality.AI will answer questions like:
Which AI models should you be exploring?
What should you use AI for? What shouldn't you?
Where is the best place to start?
Fuel your entrepreneurial spirit with coffee and pastries while mingling with like-minded individuals.
Mark your calendar for Wednesday, February 21st, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, at the newly opened Dorchester Hotel in their Dominion Room. Don't miss this opportunity to network, learn, and take your business to the next level!
Admission to this event is $10 and includes coffee and pastries.
Business Planning to Help You Win: Workshop for Entrepreneurs
The Georgian Bay Accelerator is thrilled to announce the next in our series of entrepreneurial workshops featuring the renowned startup expert, Laura Allan.
Entrepreneur Breakfast Meetup
Join us for a morning of inspiration and networking at Georgian Bay Accelerator’s "Entrepreneur Breakfast Meet-up"!
Learn how to boost your ROI from your digital advertising spend with our Keynote speaker, Kristina Smith, Marketing Director at Springfed Creative and Mentor at Georgian Bay Accelerator. Whether you're growing an existing business or preparing for a holiday campaign, you will walk away from this event with actionable strategies to make your ad dollars work harder.
Fuel your entrepreneurial spirit with coffee and pastries while mingling with like-minded individuals.
Mark your calendar for October 18th, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, at the newly opened Nottawa General Store. Don't miss this opportunity to network, learn, and take your business to the next level! Admission to this event is $5 and includes coffee and pastries.
The event has sold out! We are looking forward to meet all registered attendees at the event.