Ontario Digital Main Street Program Comes to Niagara
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This fall, we're excited to have Ontario's Digital Main Street program coming to Niagara. Funded by the Province of Ontario in partnership with the Ontario BIA Association (OBIAA), Digital Main Street seeks to help small main street businesses across Ontario improve their adoption of technologies to better promote themselves online. There are three key components to the program:
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1. Digital Transformation Grant: If your business is located within a participating Business Improvement Area (BIA), your business could be eligible for a $2,500 grant to purchase and adopt digital tools and technologies.
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2. Digital Service Squad: If your business is located within a participating BIA, you have access to a FREE Digital Service Squad team member that will assess your online presence and provide recommendations on how to enhance your digital capacities. They can help you build a basic web presence or enhance your existing presence by helping you activate easy-to-use tools such as Google My Business, social media or a free trial of an e-commerce shop through Shopify. Contact your BIA for more details.
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3. Digital Skills Workshops: Open to anyone, these 3 hour workshops are led by the qualified digital marketing team at Camp Tech. Niagara will be hosting two workshops in December, they are free to attend but registration is required.
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You don't need a big budget to get noticed on the web - you just need creativity! In this hands-on workshop, you'll learn the tricks and tools needed to market your business effectively on a shoestring budget.
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In this fun and interactive workshop, we’ll look at the basics of today’s popular social media channels and decide which are right for you. You’ll develop a social media plan that will drive business results without a big investment of time and energy.
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Starter Company Plus to be Relaunched
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A great company starts with money, mentoring and YOU! This November, we are excited to relaunch Starter Company Plus, a Government of Ontario program that provides Ontario residents over the age of 18 and not attending school full-time with training, mentorship and grant opportunities valuable to start and grow their business.
Through Starter Company Plus, you can receive:
- Get one-on-one guidance from a Small Business Enterprise Centre advisor
- Participate in business seminars and workshops
- Talk to a mentor with experience in starter or expanding
- The chance to pitch your business to a committee for a grant of up to $5000
Stay tuned for the official opening of applications!
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Student Entrepreneurs Shine in Summer Company
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Summer at the SBEC is always an exciting time of the year as a new batch of student entrepreneurs launch their own companies by participating in our Summer Company program. This year we welcomed five local students into our program:
Kyle Morgan of Backcountry Coffee
Andrew Legros of Moments in Time Photography
Ben Maccarone of Lela Specialty Foods
Riya Patel of Luxcessories
Cassandra Cruickshank of Stickable Printable
Here's a look at some of our students in action!
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The BIZ Celebrates the Grand Opening of Global Hut Immigration
Congratulations to Tushar Chawla for launching Global Hut Immigration out of the Business Innovation Zone. Tushar is the latest entrepreneur to call our mixed use office incubation space home.
www.globalhutimmigration.com/
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Small Business Tax Tips... in Spanish!
In July we hosted our first ever Spanish language business seminar! As part of our commitment to making our services as accessible as possible, we partnered with Derly Valencia CPA to offer business tax tips en español.
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