GUELPH – Times may be tough for local entrepreneurs, but help to level up is now available regionally, thanks to an Ontario Trillium Foundation – Resilient Communities Fund grant awarded to the Business Centre Guelph-Wellington.
This $126,600 grant, awarded this spring and delivered over 12 months, supports the organization’s new Momentum Business Mentor Program. Aimed at existing small to medium enterprises, not-for-profit groups and charitable organizations, the program will offer access to business advisors and volunteer mentors from across the province.
“I am thrilled to congratulate Guelph’s Business Centre on receiving an OTF grant for their Momentum Business Mentor Program,” states Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner.
“In the last two years we were reminded of the important role that local businesses, not-for-profit and charitable organizations play in supporting the health and wellbeing of our province. I fully support this program and am eager to see the continued good work that will come from its effort to support and mentor entrepreneurs within our community.”
The Momentum Business Mentor Program will assist small businesses and non-profits by matching them with advisors and mentors to explore their challenges and develop a tangible project-based strategy to create solutions over a three-month intensive program. Involving local business advisors and industry experts from across Ontario as mentors, the program will train four cohorts of individuals with start dates in May, July, September and November.
“Throughout the pandemic we have been inundated with people seeking to not just survive, but thrive,” states executive director Kristel Manes in the release.
“We see this grant as an opportunity to build our industry pool of experts who want to share knowledge and give back from their wisdom and experience. This program will broaden the Business Centre’s reach to tap into mentors across Ontario, who will then help our participants to grow, pivot and build the capacity of their small business or not-for-profit organization.”
In a phone interview, Manes said the funding is used to pay business advisors, who are employed at the business centre.
Business advisors interview clients, learn their concerns, and help develop a plan of action.
Volunteer business mentors assist the business owner with the follow-through, she said.
Manes said the business world is still impacted by the lockdowns during COVID.
“Some are doing really well; some are struggling,” she said, adding some 200 businesses and non-profits have gone through the program to-date.
Labour shortages are also impacting businesses, she said, and many are using a hybrid model, offering limited in-store hours and more online shopping to compensate.
“People are getting more creative,” she said.
Business Centre Guelph-Wellington is a not-for-profit organization that has been helping entrepreneurs, business owners, professionals and students across the Guelph, Wellington and Dufferin area achieve business success since 1999.
To learn more about the Momentum Business Mentor Program or to register, visit https://www.guelphbusiness.com/programs/momentum-business-mentor-program/.
