A London non-profit is among several organizations slated to receive funding as part of a broader government-backed initiative aimed at revitalizing main streets and local economies across southern Ontario.
Officials with the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) announced Wednesday that the London Small Business Centre (LSBC) would receive roughly $400,000 in support of four London “main street communities.”
“We’re thrilled to be able to bring this program to London. It’s an incredible initiative to help the revitalization of main streets,” said Steve Pellarin, executive director of LSBC, on Thursday.
During a COVID-19 media briefing Thursday, Mayor Ed Holder was equally pleased about the news.
“We know that revitalizing local business and communities, especially now, is more critical than ever in boosting confidence in London and our community,” he said.
“It also highlights to me the importance of supporting local businesses, be it in London and throughout Middlesex County.”
The funding comes as part of the My Main Street program, aimed at providing resources and support to communities to revitalize their main streets using local “main street ambassadors,” market research, data analysis, and monetary business supports.
The program is a partnership between the Economic Developers Council of Ontario and the Canadian Urban Institute. The federal government, through FedDev Ontario, invested $23.25 million in August, from which the funding announced Tuesday is derived.
In the case of LSBC, the funding will go toward the main street communities of Dundas Street in the downtown, Dundas Street in the Old East Village, the Hamilton Road BIA, and Richmond Row.
The four are among 65 across southern Ontario who will see support as part of Tuesday’s announcement. Each will see the hiring of an ambassador, which Pellarin describes as someone on the ground who will connect with businesses, and work with neighbourhood stakeholders, including local BIAs.
“Really, kind of, help them complement the recovery efforts that they’re already making, but also help with customized market research, data analysis to really identify what the community could benefit from,” he said.
“We applied for the maximum number of ambassadors we could get and we were successful. So we’re excited to start working with our business improvement areas and connecting with those businesses in those neighbourhoods.”
LSBC is receiving $100,000 for each of the four London main street communities, which will be distributed in the form of $10,000 non-repayable funding contributions for new and existing small businesses.
The money, he says, “can be spent to work with existing businesses to help them expand or identify a gap in the community, but also to attract new businesses to basically help fill some of the vacancies that are there.”
The group, he says, is also in the midst of hiring the four needed ambassadors. LSBC applied for the My Main Street funding with the help of the city.
“I think at this point in the pandemic, any type of support adds to that lifeline. I’m sure there’ll be many businesses out there that say ‘it’s still not enough.’ And you know, we’re not going to disagree, but I mean, we’ll take the wins as we get them,” he continued.
“There’s only a set number of businesses that might receive the funding. But again, we’ll do as much work as we can to make sure that the neighbourhood as a whole is getting the best benefit possible.”
During the program’s initial unveiling in August, it was announced that 10 other London neighbourhoods would also receive government funding as part of a separate funding stream, including:
- Argyle, Hamilton Road and Hyde Park (City of London)
- Downtown London (Downtown London BIA)
- Talbot Street (Downtown London BIA)
- Downtown London and additional locations around the city (Downtown London BIA)
- Multiple locations in Downtown London (Downtown London BIA)
- West-Woodfield Heritage District (First-St. Andrew’s United Church)
- Hyde Park (Hyde Park BIA)
- Four downtown areas (London Arts Council)
- Old East Village (Old East Village BIA)
- North East London (Siloam United Church)
A full list of communities can be found on the My Main Street website.
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