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ATB Financial Opens Entrepreneur Centre and Offers Free Banking In the wake of Calgary’s successful ATB Entrepreneur Centre, the financial intuition has opened one in Edmonton. Located in their Calgary Trail/Whitemud branch, the Centre is a hub for business owners to network, learn, share and consult with banking and business experts. The Centre will host free seminars and workshops that anyone can attend, not just ATB clients. The progressive range of topics will encompass everything from business banking to social media and crowdfunding. “We’re hearing exceptional feedback from our businesses who have started using our first Entrepreneur Centre,” says Wellington Holbrook, ATB’s executive vicepresident, business & agriculture. “Our team has helped entrepreneurs connect with industry experts and potential customers, even investors.” The Entrepreneur Centre’s website, www. atbentrepreneurcentre.com, also offers a number of tools for startups and existing businesses. There are links for both cities (Calgary and Edmonton) so business owners can easily find the events, networks and resources in their region; the ability to book appointments online; and tools to help entrepreneurs start, grow and maintain their companies. To further help the province’s entrepreneurs, ATB is offering a package called Free Banking for 2016 Startups. Any Albertabased small to mid-sized business that incorporates or registers in 2016 (and is not affiliated with any other business) can qualify for the package. Those that qualify enjoy the following for one year after their ATB account is activated: • A no monthly fee ATB Advantage personal chequing account • Full service chequing account with unlimited transactions • No annual fee on a Business Rewards MasterCard or ATB Business MasterCard
• PAYD merchant device with no setup fee • ATB Online for Business and mobile banking • Cash management tools such as: electronic funds transfers, one-off payments, online wire transfer, corporate creditor services, government tax payment and filing services “We know Alberta could benefit from a few more people taking the leap to start a business right now,” says Holbrook. “But we know starting a business can be stressful, tough and expensive. Free Banking is one way we believe we can help more entrepreneurs get started and enable them to focus a little more on running their business, and a little less on the costs with banking it.”
ABOVE: WELLINGTON HOLBROOK, EXECUTIVE VP, ATB BUSINESS & AGRICULTURE. PHOTO SOURCE: ATB FINANCIAL
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JULY 2016 // BUSINESS IN EDMONTON // BUSINESSINEDMONTON.COM