SLEP looking for input
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Sarnia-Lambton’s economic partnership is turning to the public for help wooing potential new businesses and industries to the area.
A series of community consultation sessions are planned between Wednesday and Jan. 14 to gather people’s input on what they like about existing local businesses, and what services and products they’d like to see closer to home, said Stephen Thompson, CEO of the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP).
The economic development agency’s strategic plan tasks it with working closely with municipalities and other stakeholders to build a “business opportunities list,” he said.
“So we’ve been scoping out how best to do that, and we figured the best way is to hear from local residents on what maybe they need to travel a great distance to purchase.”
Peoples’ ideas, and help from the province looking at market and trade data to determine viability, could help inform business cases for marketing, he said.
The first of the 7 p.m. sessions Wednesday is at the Brooke-Alvinston-Inwood Community Centre.
SLEP, meanwhile, is also launching an entrepreneurship-primer seminar series at Lambton County libraries next month, started a Digital Main Street Service Squad Monday with $40,000 in provincial grant funding, and has been listed again in Site Selection magazine’s Canada’s Best Locations 2019 Awards.
The listing – SLEP’s sixth since 2007 – looks at economic development organizations and their businesses retention, expansion, investment attraction, regional partnerships and economic activity, as well as some of the web tools and resources used for promotion, Thompson said.
“It’s a distinction we’re very proud of,” he added.
The Digital Main Street grant is being used to form a two-person Digital Service Squad for four months to help independent businesses better evaluate and understand digital tools and techniques.
“The focus of this is to make the businesses aware, to give them an assessment of what they might be using already, and give them suggestions of what they might want to think about doing on their own,” Thompson said.
It’s about recognizing the value of e-commerce, as well as bricks-and-mortar spaces, said Chantelle Core, development co-ordinator with SLEP.
Squad visits started Monday, she said, noting they’re also available to help some businesses apply for $2,500 Digital Transformation grants from the province.
The squad is about helping business owners build confidence with ever-changing digital tools, she said.
“It’s going to give them some knowledge, and they will be confident in working with other local service providers,” she said.
The grant amount was based on the number of “main streets” in the Sarnia-Lambton community, the number of active business improvement areas, and community partners such as chambers of commerce and economic development officers.
“We were able to request additional funding based on the number of communities we, as an organization, serve,” Core said.
The Entrepreneurship 101 series from Oct. 8 to Nov. 26 focuses on providing residents with tools needed to enter the world of entrepreneurship while also showcasing the county’s library system, officials said.
Community consultation dates:
Sept. 18 – Brooke-Alvinston-Inwood Community Centre
Sept. 26 – Huron Shores United Church, Grand Bend
Oct. 16 – Point Edward Optimist Hall
Oct. 23 – Sarnia Arena Kiwanis Room
Oct. 30 – Sombra Community Hall
Nov. 5 – Plympton-Wyoming Municipal Chambers
Nov. 7 – Oil Springs Youth Center
Nov. 19 – Victoria Playhouse Petrolia
Dec. 4 – Location TBD
Jan. 14 – Watford Arena
(All start at 7 p.m.)
Entrepreneurship 101 dates:
Oct. 8 – Thedford Library
Oct. 9 – Mooretown Library
Oct. 16 – Sarnia Library, main branch
Oct. 29 – Point Edward Library
Nov. 13 – Petrolia Library
Nov. 19 – Watford Library
Nov. 21 – Wyoming Library
Nov. 26 – Alvinston Library
(All run 6:30-8 p.m.)
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