The Business Toolkit Series is a weekly educational program designed to equip participants with practical knowledge, expert insights, and actionable strategies to grow and strengthen their businesses. Hosted at the Aurora Chamber of Commerce from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., this series offers a consistent opportunity for learning, networking, and business development in a collaborative environment.
Each session focuses on a critical area of business success—from mastering leadership and understanding your business’s true value, to navigating cybersecurity, leveraging AI tools, and building authenticity, authority, and reputation to drive sales growth. Led by experienced industry professionals, sessions are designed to be interactive and relevant, ensuring participants walk away with real-world insights they can apply immediately.
The Business Toolkit Series supports continuous learning while fostering meaningful connections among members. Whether you’re looking to refine your strategy, adopt new technologies, or strengthen your leadership approach, this series provides the tools and perspective to help move your business forward with confidence.
Participants may register for the full series or choose individual sessions to tailor the experience to their specific interests and business needs.
Yamato Yoshioka - June 2nd
Title of Session: Mastering Leadership
In a world of constant change, businesses often search for strategic solutions while overlooking their biggest advantage: leadership. This hands-on workshop is built for real work, not passive learning, where you’ll tackle the challenges, you’ve been avoiding and walk away with clarity and one decisive action to move your business forward.
Oleg Gudkov - June 9th
Title of Session: Tax Basics for Small Business and Entrepreneurs
This workshop will provide participants with a basic overview of the Canadian tax implications related to carrying on a small business in Canada. Particular emphasis will focus on self-employment income, and the related income tax considerations and strategies.
Amol Kapoor - June 16th
Title of Session: What’s Your Business Really Worth? Let’s Talk About It.
Interactive workshop for GTA brick-and-mortar business owners with 3+ years under their belt, covering how businesses are valued, types of sales, financing options including seller financing, and how to start planning your exit.
Emily Hlusko-Huard - June 23rd
Title of Session: The Business of Events: How to Plan with Purpose
A practical session on planning purposeful events that align with your goals, elevate guest experience, and deliver real business value.
Steve Falk - July 7th
Managing Online Authenticity, Authority and Reputation for Sales Growth
Explore how authenticity, authority, and reputation directly impact sales and marketing success in today’s digital landscape. This session delivers practical, actionable steps to help you stand out, build trust, and position your business for growth in 2026 and beyond.
Chris Webb - July 14th
Title of Session: Protect What matters. Innovate With Confidence.
Most businesses are adopting AI without clear guardrails. Chris will walk through a practical framework to find high-value AI opportunities while protecting customer trust, data, and your reputation. The goal is simple: Grow your business faster, safely. Chris is a technology and AI strategist who challenges business leaders to think bigger, move faster, and adopt innovation with purpose. As CEO of IT Works Co and Co-Founder of Sunshine AI, he brings more than 25 years of frontline experience helping organizations strengthen operations, scale securely, and turn emerging technology into real business advantage.
Ryan Atkins - July 21st Part 1 (Free Session)
Title of Session: Aurora Public Library Free Resources for Business Owners
Join Ryan Atkins, Account Executive at Data Axle, for an introduction to Reference Solutions; an aggregate of Canadian Business and Consumer records tailored for entrepreneurs and small business owners, and available with your Aurora Public Library card. This introduction will walk you through the basics of using the database, demonstrating how to apply filters while touching on common use-cases.
Cynda Wood - July 21st Part 2 (Free Session)
Title of Session: Aurora Public Library Free Resources for Business Owners
Plan for Business Success with Gale Business: PlanBuilder. Discover Gale’s powerful small business resource designed to support entrepreneurs at every stage. Gale Business: Plan Builder is a step-by-step tool for planning, launching, and growing a business or nonprofit. Learn how to navigate its intuitive dashboard, explore key planning areas, from business ideation to financial projections.
Paul LePage - July 28th
Title of Session: Cyber Security and AI Tools to Help Businesses Thrive
Paul LePage is the President of FoundationBTS and will be speaking about Cyber Security and AI for your business. He will touch on different technologies will help startups thrive, automating your business, and aligning technologies to business processes.