Programs aim to help small businesses return
BIAs and Chamber of Commerce launch recovery assistance
WATERLOO REGION — As small businesses in Waterloo Region navigate their way to pandemic recovery, a number of programs have been introduced locally to assist them.
They include funding initiatives from the business improvement areas in Kitchener, Waterloo and Galt, as well as the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, and personalized support from the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre.
“This is obviously unprecedented change and impact on our membership that none of us expected, none of us prepared for,” said Brian Kennedy, executive director of the Downtown Cambridge BIA, which represents more than 230 businesses in the Galt area. “We really felt a little bit helpless.” An upcoming program from Kennedy’s organization, alongside the Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo BIAs, will help to fund such things as creating and managing e-commerce platforms, and purchasing sanitation products and personal protective equipment.
Details are being finalized, but the program is expected to roll out once all businesses are allowed to reopen.
Kennedy said the program will provide matching funds, up to 50 per cent of the total, to eligible businesses, although he cautioned that funds may be limited.
“We want to be there with the businesses who are willing to put their own money in,” he said. BIA funds may come from monies dedicated for other things that the pandemic has cancelled for now, such as inperson events.
They’re also working with a new, online marketplace called HeyLocal that aims to bring a number of local retailers under one e-commerce roof.
The Cambridge Chamber of Commerce is collecting contributions for its #HelpSaveSmallBizCbridge campaign. Small businesses can apply for assistance, via the chamber’s website, for reopening expenses such as barriers and safety equipment.
The initiative is not restricted to chamber members. A committee will review applications and try to provide as much assistance as possible, although businesses that have already received government support may not qualify.
“It’s important that all small businesses receive the support they need because the economic future of our whole community depends on it,” chamber president and chief executive officer Greg Durocher said in a release.
Small business owners and entrepreneurs in the region can also participate in a free outreach program presented by the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre that’s designed to help connect them with the specific resources they need.
Throughout May, staff will conduct phone interviews with participants, and they’ll follow up with a customized list of the best resources and programs that may assist. Information gleaned in the interviews regarding common challenges will also be used in creating a small business recovery tool kit that will be available to any business in the region.
Businesses can request an interview on the centre’s website.
“What we’re really trying to do is understand what our small business community is struggling with and respond with helpful resources and programming,” the centre’s manager, Chris Farrell, said in a release.
“We’ve been listening to business owners, and this is what they have been asking for. It is a rare opportunity to provide personalized support to many businesses, while simultaneously developing effective resources for our entire business community.”
The Downtown Cambridge BIA’s Kennedy said there’s no question that challenges and uncertainty lie ahead for small businesses trying to operate in a new normal.
“We can’t really pinpoint right now what that’s going to look like,” he said. “We really want to be there to help them along.”