Caledon receives $25,000 grant for main street businesses

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

The Town of Caledon alongside Downtown Bolton Business Improvement Area (BIA) have received a $25,000 opportunity to assist small businesses in the downtown core and other Caledon communities.

Digital Main Street (DMS) is a program that technologically improves small community business by creating a digital transformation. DMS is specifically catered to main street businesses in Ontario.

The Town held a revealing on the corner of Sterne and Queen St in downtown Bolton on Nov 1 to announce a $25,000 grant received from DMS. 

“A vibrant business sector is key to the strength of our community,” stated Mayor Allan Thompson. “We are excited to form this partnership with the Ontario BIA Association to assist main street businesses adopt revenue-generating and cost-saving technologies.”

The program was created in Toronto by the Toronto Association of BIA's (TABIA) who partnered with large technical companies such as Google, Mastercard, Rogers, Microsoft and Spotify. The Digital Main Street initiative is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Province of Ontario has invested $26 million towards creating jobs for small businesses located on main street areas, through an initiative called the Main Street Revitalization. The Digital Main Street program is a part of that investment. 

 “Our government is committed to helping small businesses improve their competitiveness, create jobs and attract investment. That's why I'm so pleased that businesses in Bolton and the Town of Caledon will benefit from the expertise of a Digital Service Squad to help small businesses embrace digital technology. Our investment in the Digital Main Street program will help to ensure that Ontario is open for business and open for jobs,” said Hon. Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Digital Main Street initiative offers two separate grants: The Digital Transformation Grant which have 2,000 grants of $2,500 to offer new digital technologies, and 300 Digital Service Squad Grants of $10,000 of digital vendors and experts to help small businesses.

Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones is hopeful of the opportunities the Digital Main Street initiative will have for Caledon.

“The training provided by the Digital Service Squad will help many businesses in the Bolton and the Town of Caledon to use new technologies and provide tools and training to take advantage of the new digital opportunities,” said Jones. “This initiative by the BIA and the Town of Caledon is a new resource for businesses to help them stay competitive and build their business prospects.”                     

For more information, please visit digitalmainsteet.ca