We have a major, major philosophical problem with state government coming into a private business and telling them what kind of benefits they must pay their employees.

Once the government gets into business, they'll want to tell you what to insure and how much to charge. We don't think things like that work very well. We'd rather have a system that allows many companies to compete in a market.

Both business and labour, and government officials are starting to say: 'We need to change the way the department operates'.

We are a government-funded incubator. We support and help start business in the downstream chemical industry like Ethanol Africa.

I haven't yet heard of a hookah lounge opening and going out of business.

Business Matchmaking gives us yet another avenue to support small business owners. We provide a tech center at each event, which offers Internet access, printing facilities and staffers to answer any questions small business owners may have as they prepare for their one-on-one appointments.