Two small Northern Ontario businesses will be celebrating Canada Day with cash to recover.
Annabella Zawada Medicine Professional Corporation of Thunder Bay, owner-operator of the Umbrella Clinic, and the Timmins Chiropractic Clinic each received a $10,000 grant from the Canadian Business Resilience Network Small Business Relief Fund.
With support from the federal government, the relief fund was created by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Salesforce to provide small businesses across the country with grants to help in their pandemic recovery efforts.
More than 1,100 small businesses applied to the relief fund with 62 winners being announced June 29.
The funding was designed to help small businesses stay afloat and support their recovery efforts, paying salaries, retrofitting their workplaces and acquiring technology to adapt their business model.
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A joint release from the chamber and Salesforce said the recipients best demonstrated their financial strain and how the businesses will use the grants to change or innovate in adding in their recovery and how grant will support the role each business plays in their respective communities.
“Reviewing the applications was both heartbreaking and inspiring," said Canadian Chamber president Perrin Beatty in a release.
"We saw how seriously small businesses across Canada have been hurt by the pandemic, but we also saw how determined these entrepreneurs are to preserve their employees’ jobs and to serve their customers and their communities. But today is a happy waypoint, not an end point, and we won’t stop finding new ways to help Canada’s businesses re-open and recover. We’ll be with you every step of the way."
“It has been incredible to see the resilience coming from Canada’s small business owners over the last few months," added Margaret Stuart, Canada Country Manager, Salesforce.
“We know it hasn’t been easy. “The applicants have further demonstrated what we at Salesforce already knew to be true - that Canada is rich with innovation and entrepreneurial talent. We’re hopeful that these grants will provide essential support to small business owners as they return to work.”
