Municipal council offered its support to rural businesses in Chatham-Kent on Monday.
During the meeting, council approved a staff recommendation that $125,000 be directed from the Ontario Safe ReStart Agreement to expand and fund the Digital Main Street Grant program so that it can help out Chatham-Kent’s rural businesses.
The Digital Main Street Grant program, administered by the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association, helps business owners create and enhance their online presence during the pandemic. However, in order to meet the previous criteria for the grant, a business must be located in a downtown area, which left hundreds of rural Chatham-Kent businesses ineligible for grant funding to help improve their digital footprint.
Now that expansion of the program has been approved, the Digital Main Street supports will be available to businesses outside of the one-kilometre designated radius of the previous criteria.
"I think it expresses the importance of us locally to shop local, especially with all the hard-hit avenues," said Councillor Anthony Ceccacci.
The $125,000 will provide 50 Chatham-Kent rural businesses with the opportunity to apply for a $2,500 grant to further their digital and e-commerce technology.
