Funding to help business
A dozen Niagara BIAs have partnered up to maximize provincial dollars aimed at helping small independent businesses enter the digital age.
The City of St. Catharines is leading the regional project that involves business improvement areas in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Port Colborne and Fort Erie.
“The idea is helping Main Street, particularly independent Main Street businesses, keep up with that trend of being online and help them build their online presence,” said Samir Husika, downtown development officer for St. Catharines.
“It’s something businesses can’t really ignore anymore.”
The city received a $70,000 grant from Digital Main Street, a program funded by the province and dispersed by the Ontario BIA Association.
The money will be used to hire a Digital Service Squad co-ordinator who will meet one-on-one and train as many members of the 12 Niagara BIAs as possible to help them modernize their businesses. “There are businesses out there that you can’t even find on Google Maps. That’s a problem if you want to get customers through the door,” Husika said.
He said if cities and towns want to promote local shopping, restaurants and services, having them online is the bare minimum in this day and age.
“If we could help some businesses just to get that basic online presence, getting on social media, developing a website and so on, that’s one key part of getting people to shop in our Main Streets.”
The partnering BIAs include the St. Catharines Downtown Association, Port Dalhousie Business Association and Facer District Merchants and Residents Association in St. Catharines, the Victoria Centre BIA, Fallsview BIA, Queen Street BIA and Lundy’s Lane BIA in Niagara Falls, the Ridgeway BIA, Crystal Beach BIA and Bridgeburg BIA in Fort Erie and the Port Colborne Downtown BIA and Main Street BIA in Port Colborne.
Husika said if the BIAs hadn’t partnered up, each would have access to a smaller amount of money and in turn, projects with much more limited scopes that wouldn’t have as big a benefit for members.
By tackling the issue together, they can hire a co-ordinator for a year who will do a digital assessment of the businesses, help them understand what their digital footprint is, fill in gaps if there are any and help them boost their digital presence.
The co-ordinator will also help businesses apply for $2,500 grants offered through Digital Main Street.
Husika said the goal is to have a co-ordinator in place by September who will be based out of St. Catharines city hall.