TORONTO, June 22, 2011 — The Certified General Accountants of Ontario (CGA Ontario) today announced a $2 million gift to the Schulich School of Business at York University to support the creation of a new, endowed academic chair focusing on global competitiveness for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“We’re very excited to be working with Schulich in this joint project as the SME business community is the backbone of today’s economy,” said Doug Brooks, FCGA, CEO, Certified General Accountants of Ontario. “A significant percentage of CGAs in Ontario serve SMEs. Research by the CGA Ontario Chair in Global Competitiveness for SMEs will play an important role in assisting SMEs to become more competitive outside their domestic markets.”
“Canada needs to do more to turn our small- and medium-sized enterprises into global competitors,” says Dezsö J. Horváth, dean of the Schulich School of Business. “The CGA Ontario Chair in Global Competitiveness for SMEs will carry out intensive research into the success factors – as well as the challenges – currently affecting the internationalization of small-to-medium-sized enterprises. This research can then be used to enhance export know-how and foreign investment competence of businesses; to identify and leverage extensive international networks; and to develop public policies specifically designed to create the conditions necessary for Canadian SMEs to become more broadly engaged in the global marketplace.”
CGAs are accounting and finance professionals working with Ontario businesses to make a difference. CGAs are trained to look beyond the numbers, drawing on their broad learning and individual strengths to facilitate problem solving and provide leadership across industries and within changing business realities.
Known as Canada’s Global Business School™, the Schulich School of Business is ranked among the world’s leading business schools by a number of global surveys. Schulich offers undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate business degrees that lead to careers in the private, public and nonprofit sectors, and has more than 22,000 alumni working in over 90 countries. www.schulich.yorku.ca
CGA Ontario is a self-governing body that grants the exclusive rights to the CGA designation and controls the professional standards, conduct and discipline of its 20,000 certified general accountants (CGAs) and 8,000 students in the CGA program of professional studies. www.cga-ontario.org / www.cga-more.org
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For more information:
Elayne Shapiro, Communications, Media & Public Relations, Schulich School of Business
Telephone: 416-736-5546
Email: eshapiro@schulich.yorku.ca
Amy Mulhern, Manager, Public Relation, CGA Ontario
Telephone: 416-544-4781 / 1-800-668-1454 ext. 8311
Email: amulhern@cga-ontario.org
