Ben Yang is encouraging people to think “glocal.”
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The director of global engagement at Wilfrid Laurier University, Yang is a strong proponent of bringing Brantford businesses, the broader community and international students together.
“I sometimes think that in Canada, we’re not very good at promoting ourselves,” Yang said. “We’re all so very modest.
“We think about business, we talk about community development but I think we need to talk about that and share what we have with the world.”
The term “glocal” brings these concepts together. It also helps capture the goal of Laurier’s four-week business communication and entrepreneurship program which wrapped up with a celebration on Friday.
The program, which this year included 15 students from South Korea and China, aims to help participants improve their English and learn about business development.
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The program also seeks to inspire entrepreneurship, Yang said.
“The students learn about the Canadian education system, they visit local business and organizations.
“It’s all about having an immersive experience,” Yang said. “They’ve been out in the community, they visited the mayor (Kevin Davis), local businesses, the library and the community kitchen.
“They have an on-campus experience but an off-campus, community experience as well.”
Students also visited Canada’s Wonderland and Niagara Falls.
Yang said he wants the students, who lived in Grand River Hall during the program, to have a good experience that they can take back and share with others.
“I want them to become ambassadors for Brantford,” Yang said. “I want them to help put Brantford on the international map.”
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Yang, who has been running the program for about 10 years, is hoping more Asia businesses will want to invest in Brantford. There may be opportunities for Brantford businesses to invest overseas.
In past summers, students from several other countries including Mexico, Brazil and France have participated in the program. Yang said.
Ziayao Wang, 24, attended Chongquing Jiaotong University in China and was one of five students from the university to participate in the program.
“It has really helped my English, I feel more comfortable,” Wang said. “I’m more confident and we’re all better able to communicate with each other.”
Wang, whose father has a landscape architecture company, enjoys gardening. He had a wonderful time speaking about gardening with the mayor and spent a lot of time looking at homes and properties in the city.
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Wang said the city’s garden in Lorne Park that honors the 150th anniversary of the telephone and country tribute to Dr. Alexander Graham Bell.
Although he enjoyed viewing many of the gardens, Wang said that from a Chinese perspective there are some things missing.
Wang said he would welcome the opportunity to introduce those elements to those gardens to enhance them.
Those elements would provide a different perspective, he said.
Wang said gardens are often reflective of the property owner’s personality and culture.
During his visit to Brantford, he had the opportunity to view gardens that are reflective of a Middle Eastern country, an Asian country as well as western society.
Combining the elements from various cultures would result in a really special garden, Wang said.
The program also gave him a chance to visit a new city and meet other international students.
“It’s fun meeting and studying with other students and I’ve really enjoyed Brantford,” Wang said.
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