Small businesses get $29,000 in funding
Money will boost retail presence of That Dam Tea
You can’t buy That Dam Tea in Lousiana, but you’ll soon be able to buy it at more grocery stores and restaurants as it expands its retail presence in the Peterborough and Oshawa areas.
On Thursday, Peterborough Economic Development announced the local iced-tea brewing company and six other small businesses were receiving a total of $29,000 through the Starter Company Plus Program.
This is the fifth intake of the program which provides up to $5,000 to startups or businesses seeking expansion.
Tyler Steeves, owner of That Dam Tea, says last year he sold 30,000 bottles of his product and owns a 2,000-square-foot facility on the Queensway.
“We make some damn good tea,” says Steeves about his product.
That Dam Tea is produced with damiana, a medicinal herb grown in Central America. Steeves describes damiana, the namesake of his drink, as a super food which can relieve stress, anxiety and improves blood flow.
The entrepreneur has been in business for a year and his drink can be purchased at local retailers like Sobeys as well as smaller businesses like Sam’s Deli.
The bottle for the drink says it is “banned in Lousiana” which Steeves notes is true. Due to a mistake in a bill which was passed to fight against illicit drugs, damiana was banned despite it not having any of the qualities of the other banned substances.
“We thought it was kind of funny so we put it on the bottle,” says Steeves.
With the $5,000 from the program he’ll be expanding his business by providing a new organic-certified version of the drink.
He says the new drink will be “more health-food oriented” and he also may expand to a new flavour as well.
He also says within the next few weeks his product will be available in Oshawa, too.
Steeves thanked the community for helping his business grow and supporting him. “I couldn’t think of a better place to do business.”
Rodney Fuentes is in the first year of his own business, and says the grant money will help him to expand his video production company.
Fuentes’ company, Goldenrod Productions, is a nature-oriented film company that shoots video for documentary films, promotional campaigns, tourism or for environmental organizations.
“There’s definitely a lot (of business) and there’s a lot of environmental nongovernmental organizations who benefit from someone who creates a video for their campaign,” he says.
Due to the environmental elements of Peterborough Fuentes says there’s plenty of opportunities in the area.
Fuentes is a filmmaker of three years, a naturalist and a bird researcher.
“I bring the expertise I have in nature into filmmaking,” he says.
With the $5,000 he’ll be receiving from the program he’ll be putting it into new equipment, such as a 4K camera, a camera stabilizer and a drone.
“If I don’t have it (the right gear) I won’t get hired by some organizations,” he says.
That’s because plenty of companies are looking for high-quality video content that can only be produced with the proper equipment.
Other businesses receiving funding include:
• Jacob Quinlan of Jacob Quinlan Books • Lesley Pocklington of Swell Made Co. • David Sharpe and Michael Seaboyer of Belmont Custom Cabinetry
• Lyle Saunders of Peterborough Disability Tax Service
• Jim Adriaensen of James and Co. Structural Engineering