Meet the North Financing Symposium

The conference will begin with a comprehensive overview of the economic potential that exists for northern Canada over the next 25 years. It will contain:

A financing symposium will be available to participants of the Meet the North Conference on May 12, 2003.

The financing symposium will be of interest to participants seeking a better understanding of financing, addressing the following questions of business owners and management:

· what are the alternative sources of financing available?
· what type of financing is suitable for me?
· what do the alternative sources of financing look for in evaluating opportunities?
· how can I best present myself to financing sources?

The financing symposium will include:

Presentations by KPMG - Representatives of KPMG including Claude Conan, Nancy McLennan, Bob Treidler and Tim Swanson will provide presentations focusing on formulating a business plan, the process of raising financing, the alternative sources of financing and what the sources of financing are looking for.

Presentation by Entrepreneur - Gordon Stewart will share his experiences in growing a business and in raising financing. Gordon Stewart is Chairman and CEO of Braden-Burry Expediting Ltd. ("BBE"). BBE is a public company and Northern Canada's largest expediting and logistic services company.

Presentations by Financing Sources - Several sources of financing will provide an overview of the alternative types of financing that are available and what they are looking for in evaluating prospective clients for debt, subordinated debt and equity financing. The following individuals will be presenting:

Jason Barr, Director Commercial Banking, CIBC
Brian King, Director, Alberta North, RoyNat Capital
Terry Quinn, Vice President, Business Development Bank of Canada

Rick Goebel, Executive Director of Economic Development Edmonton, will provide an overview of the Deal Generator program that was recently introduced for early-stage companies seeking capital.

Panel Discussion - A panel comprised of KPMG and representatives of the financing sources will address questions from participants.