(Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) – June 2, 2015 | Startup Sault Ste. Marie announced today that it has been awarded $3,000 in project funding from the Startup Canada Catalyst Fund (www.startupcan.ca), to map out Sault Ste. Marie’s Startup ecosystem, and develop a number of tools for the business community.

Working with its community partners, and the business community, StartUP Sault will create a Startup Ecosystem Canvas for Sault Ste. Marie, by identifying relevant local resources available at the 3 stages of startup – Idea, Launch and Growth. The project will also document local success stories and other global resources available to help new entrepreneurs and existing business.

Both digital and print versions of the canvas will be created and utilized by StartUP Sault and its partners to assist business clients. The canvas will also be available to new and existing entrepreneurs looking to start or grow their businesses.

The second component of the project will involve gathering the relevant data and statistics necessary to develop and design an informative and compelling infographic. The infographic of Sault Ste. Marie’s existing entrepreneurial ecosystem will paint a picture of what our small business sector, industrial base and infrastructure looks like today.

The ecosystem infographic will be distributed as a poster, and a companion website will display an interactive version, allowing viewers to hover over elements of the graphic to access more information and link directly to resources.

“We are very excited to lead this project, along with our community partners”, stated Nevin Buconjic, StartUP Sault Community Lead. “Both the Startup Ecosystem Canvas and the community infographic will not only help support our growing startup community, but will also showcase why Sault Ste. Marie is a great place to start a business”.

As a volunteer organization, StartUP Sault is grateful to Startup Canada for their continued support and for providing financial support for this project, which is expected to be completed by October 2015.

For more information about StartUP Sault, visit www.startupsault.ca.  Follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/startupsault) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/startupsault) to keep up to date on StartUP Sault events, startup tips and other useful information.