The winners of the 7th annual Alberta Craft Awards have been chosen and will be exhibited at the Discovery Gallery in Edmonton from January 7-February 12, 2012. This is a free exhibit.

The Stuff a Bus campaign which was held at 13 Save-On Foods locations in Edmonton from December 1-3 raised approximately 20,000 kg of food and $14,000 in donations for the Edmonton Food Bank. The food donation equalled 14 city buses packed with food and is enough to feed 400 families for a month.

Titanic: the Artifact Exhibition will be showing at Telus World of Science Edmonton until February 20, 2012. This exhibition features over 200 real artefacts from the Titanic; these were obtained from the wreckage of the ocean liner. Admission for both Edmonton Science and the Titanic exhibit are $23.95 for adults, $18.95 for 13-17, $15.95 for 3-12 and $20.95 for seniors.

Live-Local Alberta has declared November to be Shop Local First Month. Their goal is to emphasize the importance of buying from local businesses. Jessie Radies, founder of Live Local Alberta gave a talk in Edmonton on November 21 which emphasized the economic and societal impact of shopping locally. It has even been said that shopping locally helps to “eradicate poverty and create sustainable neighbourhoods.” For each $100 spent locally, $48 stays in the community.

The workshop, Everything you Wanted to Know about using Facebook for Business, will take place on November 30 at the Edmonton Strathcona Library. Proceeds from the workshop will go to benefit the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. Tickets are $197 and registration is limited to 70.

The Project Management Institute, Northern Alberta Chapter (PMI-NAC) has been providing Alberta and Northwest Territories businesses with their services for 30 years. Among the 1100 members of the PMI-NAC are business leaders from all types of industries. The organization, which has chapters in 171 countries, provides services for business people such as monthly meetings and networking opportunities, professional development courses, seminars, a scholarship program, volunteer opportunities and various events. They also advise businesses on how to become PMI certified.

For the second year running, the Financial Post/Canadian Federation of Independent Business's Communities in Bloom ranking has named Edmonton as the top large city in Canada for entrepreneurs. The reason for this is said to be the strong Alberta economy and the fact that many of the suppliers for large automotive or oil companies are based in Edmonton.

Many communities in Canada declare the week of October 17 to 21 Small Business Week and Edmonton is no exception. To cap off the week, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce will be holding the Small Business Owner of the Year Awards Luncheon on October 21. The event will take place at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Tickets cost $49.95 for members of the Chamber of Commerce and $59.95 for non-members; table for 8 are available.