You have built a solid business and you work hard. You are doing everything right.
However, costs are rising and business sentiment is at its lowest point in a year amidst global energy and supply shocks. Deals are slipping through, opportunities are passing by, and competitors always seem to move faster. At the same time, you are busy juggling operations, marketing your services, planning your finances, and optimising business strategies to think about scaling consistently and sustainably.
Often, many local enterprises don’t lack the time and budget to scale their business. They lack access to senior expertise and supportive financial schemes to convert opportunities into revenue amidst an uncertain economy.
To explore the topic of building sustainable business growth and productivity, join SME Centre@SICCI and ARK Connect in this workshop to see how smarter human capital alternatives can overcome traditional hiring challenges and what SME leaders can do differently in these trying times.
Key Learning Points:
- Leave With a Practical Framework of One Problem You Can Solve In The Next 90 Days.
- Understand How Fractional Expertise Is Vetted, Incentivised, and Held Accountable – And Why It May Be Lower-risk Than Traditional Hiring.
- Understand What Staying “Stuck” In Your Business Is Really Costing You.
Programme:
| Time | Agenda | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.30pm – 2pm | Registration | |||
| 2pm – 2.30pm | The SME Leadership Gap Mr Syed Ali Senior Manager, Business Advisory SME Centre@SICCI |
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| 2.30pm – 2.50pm | Rising Costs, Falling Business Sentiment, Frozen Hiring: What SME Leaders Can Do Differently Ms Joanne Chua Founder ARK Connect Pte Ltd |
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| 2.50pm – 3.30pm | Panel Session Moderator: Ms Joanne Chua Founder ARK Connect Pte Ltd
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| 3.30pm – 4pm | Unlocking Workforce Potential & Business Transformation Ms Cassandra Cheng Senior Manager NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) |
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| 4pm – 5pm | Light Refreshments & Networking |
Speakers’ and Panellists’ Profiles:
Ms Joanne Chua
Founder
ARK Connect Pte Ltd
Joanne Chua is a purpose-driven entrepreneur, executive search consultant, and certified coach with over 20 years of experience in recruitment and talent advisory across Asia. She is the Founder of ARK Connect and is currently co-founding a next-generation fractional talent marketplace designed to connect seasoned leaders with high-growth organisations globally.
Joanne began her career in her family business before spending 17 years at Robert Walters, where she held regional leadership roles across Asia. She is known for her consultative, solutions-oriented approach, partnering closely with founders and C-suite leaders on executive search, leadership transformation, and fractional talent strategies.
Inspired by an 800km hike across Spain during her sabbatical year, Joanne founded ARK Connect with a strong commitment to purpose and mental health advocacy. Today, she champions a more human, flexible future of work, helping organisations access senior talent while enabling leaders to contribute beyond traditional career paths.
Mr Philip Park
Managing Director
Kilsa Global
Philip has served as Managing Director of KILSA Global since 2015, leading inbound and outbound business development for engineering and technology-driven SMEs across Asia. Singapore-headquartered KILSA Global has grown into the region’s market entry and “Global Business Building” platform, now operating six subsidiaries across Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and has guided roughly 150 companies—spanning AI, mobility, healthcare, and manufacturing—through successful overseas expansion. Under Philip’s leadership, KILSA specialises in IP/technology validation, pilot test-bedding, fundraising, and cross-border partnerships and joint ventures, most recently formalised through its appointment as Seoul Startup Hub’s official Singapore Centre.
Mr Bernard Lee
Fractional CHRO
Founder, Votum Consulting
Bernard brings with him over 20 years in senior leadership roles across Asia Pacific working alongside country MDs and regional leaders in companies such as Bayer, HOYA Medical and Imerys. Bernard believes that when people grow, organisations grow—having spent two decades working shoulder-to-shoulder with business leaders rather than advising from the sidelines, combining both systems expertise and hands-on coaching under one roof. He is guided by a single mission: Empowering People, Elevating Performance—helping organisations unlock their greatest advantage by developing the leaders and teams who bring strategy to life.
Mr Andrew Varona
Fractional Chief Supply Chain Officer (F&B, Consumer & Trading)
Founder, Qurious Works
With over 20 years’ supply chain experience in senior leadership roles in a never-changing environment at Unilever, Andrew helps SME leaders regain control as growth strains people, cash, and systems. He works inside the business alongside existing teams, starting small with diagnostics or pilots to reduce risk without big-bang transformations. He builds opening-ready, scalable supply chains and simplifies decision-making, from setting up end-to-end operations for F&B startups to introducing demand visibility and inventory discipline in export manufacturing.
Ms Cassandra Cheng
Senior Manager
NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i)
Cassandra oversees accounts in the banking, finance, insurance, investment, and legal sectors, with a focus on supporting companies in workforce planning. She brings expertise in helping businesses leverage NTUC’s initiatives and maximise government support for manpower and staffing needs. In addition, Cassandra facilitates the creation of strategic platforms that foster collaboration, knowledge sharing, and growth opportunities for companies across these industries.
Mr Syed Ali
Senior Manager, Business Advisory
SME Centre@SICCI
Throughout his career, Syed Ali has engaged businesses and created connections through marketing and events around the world. He has worked with SMEs, MNCs, Associations and Governments identifying their needs, creating opportunities and helping to build their networks.
He joined SME Centre with the aspiration to enable as many small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs as possible to grow and achieve their dreams.
