Small downtown businesses eligible for $2,500 digital marketing grants

Sault Ste. Marie's Downtown Association is helping its members compete in an increasingly digital world, facilitating free assessments of existing online technology and $2,500 grants to punch up marketing campaigns.

"With some of the types of media advertising that are available, you can advertise your local and small business with such a smaller dollar value than what you would typically do in traditional forms," Sault MPP Ross Romano said last night, announcing a $10,000 provincial grant to establish a downtown digital service squad to provide free one-on-one training, consulting and advisory services to eligible businesses.

Starting in late summer or early fall, the local squad will offer digital-readiness assessments to identify what's working and what isn’t working.

The squad will also assist qualifying businesses to apply for $2,500 digital transformation grants.

Two thousand grants are available province-wide until March 2020.

The money can be used for digital marketing, software, training or other approved purposes.

Some examples of eligible projects include:

• hiring a consultant/agency/person to execute digital marketing initiatives
• redesign or improvement of existing website
• development of new website
• graphic design software
• productivity software (LastPass, Hootsuite, Dropbox, etc.)
• social media software (Hootsuite, Buffer, etc.)
• security software
• ongoing digital training courses (in-person and online)
• hardware (must be deemed necessary)

Eligible business must be:

• within a business improvement or a defined central downtown business district
• employing one to 99 employees
• paying commercial property tax (commercially assessed), either directly or through commercial rent
• a registered business in Ontario and/or incorporated
• not a business supplying digital services to other businesses (e.g., website design/ development, SEO, programming)
• not a franchise
• not a not-for-profit/charitable organization
• not renting office space on a temporary basis (month-to-month)
• not a shared workspace such as a hot desk or a dedicated desk
• not a purely online business
• owned by an Ontario resident or operating a business in Ontario
• an individual of 18 years of age or older at the time of application
• a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• have completed the Digital Main Street assessment
• have completed the online training program
• have developed and submitted a digital transformation plan

The $12-million, three-year Digital Main Street project is a partnership of Ontario BIA Association and the province's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

It was first envisioned by John Kiru, executive director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, who realized that small businesses needed to be dragged into the 21st century.

Just three or four years ago, between 20 and 25 percent of local small businesses still didn't have a computer.

Although some establishments had a website, "you might as well have blown the dust off it, because it was something that was created by their nephew or their friend, and they hadn't updated it in years," Kiru said.

At the same time, online retailers including Amazon were experiencing exponential growth.

"We needed to educate local small businesses on the importance of moving into that aspect. The Walmarts of the world are actually going digital now. They have 20,000 SKUs [stock-keeping units] on their online store. If Canadian Tire sees the challenge to move onto that, there was absolutely a need for us to equip small businesses to move into that world," Kiru said. 

“Our main focus with this new initiative is to set up main-street businesses with a comprehensive online presence, including a Google My Business page with contact details and a 360-degree tour of their location, along with photos and a Google Maps location pin,” said Josh Ingram, the Downtown Association's executive director.

Last night's launch event was held at the Millworks Center for Entrepreneurship at 83 Huron St.

For more information or to apply for a $2,500 grant, please go to digitalmainstreet.ca.