Regina-based jeweler Hillberg & Berk is looking to use a federal grant to help expand into the American market.
“We have limited resources in terms of how we can expand and grow, so a fund like this really helps us expedite our growth in a specific area,” Hillberg & Berk founder and CEO Rachel Mielke said.
The jewelry maker is one of 11 Saskatchewan companies and three support organizations that received a combined $4.5 million in federal grants. This is part of the multi-year $2 billion Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, which aims to double the amount of female business owners in Canada by 2025.
Only 16 per cent of Canadian businesses are owned or run by women, according to the federal government.
Mielke said it is “incredibly important” that this fund exists.
“There are specific challenges that women in business face; particularly when they get to the phase of trying to scale up. So this support really helps overcome some of the challenges that women face,” she said.
“There are still a lot of challenges that women entrepreneurs face in scaling up, but I think we’re moving in the right direction and this really helps support some of that growth.”
For Mielke, she said one of the main challenges she has faced in trying to grow her business has been accessing funding to do that.
Regina Wascana MP Ralph Goodale agreed difficulty accessing capital investment is a barrier to female entrepreneurs expanding.
“We have to bring them up, and when we bring them up it’s a matter of fairness and inclusion and gender equality, but it’s also good, solid, sensible economics because that will add to economic success in Saskatchewan, jobs and growth for everyone,” Goodale said.
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