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Move downtown gives non-profit 'option to hit the pavement'

NEOnet is now set up downtown Timmins and has unveiled a new logo and website

An organization helping connect the region has set up in a new location and updated its branding. 

Today, NEOnet celebrated its grand reopening at 85 Pine St. S. and unveiled its new branding with a modernized logo and website. 

NEOnet has been around since 1999 and had been operating out of space at Northern College. 

In mid-2021, they decided to move to a central location closer to where their stakeholders are, said MJ Filo, NEOnet director of operations.

"We have a very large business community in the downtown BIA and we found a space that fit our needs and gives us the option to hit the pavement and talk to business owners and people … to promote our programs, our services, our funding that we provide for small businesses. It creates a nice central location and it’s been pretty great,” she said. 

They've been in the location since December 2021. 

With a vast coverage area spanning from Temagami to the James Bay coast across to Gogama and Foleyet, Filo said they still use a lot of technology to connect.

“We’ve had some people coming in, mostly inquiring about funding to help them grow their business. Even educational options for people who are looking to know more about cybersecurity or programming like Microsoft 365 and things like that. It has been pretty great connecting with people, especially now post-pandemic,” she said.

The non-profit currently has five staff. The most recent addition is for the Digital Services Squad through Digital Main Street.

“What we do is we help small businesses who are brick and mortar create their digital transformation plan so that they can create a road map for figuring out if they need new social media, new management systems, new hardware and they can apply for a $2,500 microgrant to help implement all that good stuff,” said Filo. 

For businesses who may not qualify for Digital Main Street program, Filo said NEOnet just received word that they'll be official digital advisors for the Canada Digital Adoption Program. 

It means NEOnet will be able to help more businesses create a digital transformation plan, she explained.

Details for all of their current programs are available on the redesigned website, neonet.on.ca.

The new site, said FIlo, is easier to manage and "doesn’t look like it’s from the ‘90s or early 2000s."

"We have a new modern logo that still has a bit of who we were and how we’re looking towards the future so it’s very modernized,” she said.