“One-stop shop” business networking for Edmonton’s South Asian community takes hold

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Edmonton’s new business network for the South Asian community wants to highlight local talent and build connections between members and across the city.

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On Thursday, co-founders Sunny Kakar and Rajimaru Hotra will organize a mixer in downtown Stanley A. Milner Library to empower South Asian companies and professionals through networking events, referrals and mentorship. Announced the launch of the organization Sifarish.

Kakar, ATB Financial’s day-to-day manager, said the pair arrived at the idea in December with the goal of bringing the community together and creating space for members to promote partnerships and improve their careers. Said.

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In doing so, he added, he hopes that Shirafish will also serve as a bridge between members and the city as a whole.

“It’s a community builder, but obviously it starts with what we know, where we came from, and where our connections are,” he said. “We are never on the island. We are part of a larger community.”

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Malhotra, CEO of the DNA testing company, said over the next few weeks, the organization will be working on publicly accessible directories to highlight its members. A “one-stop shop” and company to promote the expertise and talents of South Asian professionals.

According to the co-founder, the word “sifarisch” means “recommended” or “recommended” in Urdu and Hindi.

“We want to help every individual in our community in some way,” Malhorta said, adding that he plans to help immigrants and newcomers who are trying to take root using the network. I did. “The idea is to give them an opportunity through mentorship, volunteering, and business connections to build a community.”

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In a festive mixer-mixed audience, local business lender Upinder Tuli said he has found professional and personal value in the network since joining.

Turi, who works for a credit union, said the Cipherish event has already helped meet realtors and construction companies looking for a loan.

“I connected with those people,” he said. “I support their future lending.”

“We don’t know many people”

Tuli added that it may be difficult for immigrants to Canada like himself to do business without previous or long-standing connections with the community.

“We don’t know many people,” he said. “I don’t have much social life here, but today I meet more than 100 people, so it has a good connection to your social life.”

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Sifarish targets a specific community, but according to Malhotra, it’s by no means exclusive.

“Everyone is welcome to join our group,” he said. “We have no restrictions on South Asia, etc.”

After the organization found its foothold in Edmonton, Malhotra added, the next step involves branching to Calgary. However, the duo also has national ambitions and hopes to arrive in Vancouver and Toronto within a few years.

“We have a lot of homemade talent away from Edmonton,” he said. “We are reaching out to those people to join us so that we can expand our network.”

hissawi@postmedia.com

@hamdiissawi