(Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) – March 22, 2016 | StartUP Sault Ste. Marie announced today the launch of a new online Startup Roadmap, highlighting available services and resources for small businesses in Sault Ste. Marie. The Roadmap is available at www.startupsault.com.
Working with its community partners, StartUP Sault developed the Roadmap as a quick and handy resource for new and existing entrepreneurs.
The Roadmap focuses on three main stages of small business development – Idea, Launch and Growth, as well as providing numerous other resources. Users can easily identify the local services available at each stage, such as business counselling, training and events, funding opportunities and more.
Both digital and print versions of the infographic are available at www.startupsault.com, including a downloadable print-quality PDF.
Printed copies of the Startup Roadmap will be available in the future through StartUP Sault’s community partners including the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation, Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre, Community Development Corporation of Sault Ste. Marie and Area, Business Development Bank of Canada, Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce, Millworks Incubator and Social Enterprise Evolution.
“The Startup Roadmap is a tool that we felt was missing in Sault Ste. Marie. Because one of StartUP Sault’s key goals is to connect entrepreneurs to existing small business services offered in the community, this project brings us that much closer to achieving this goal,” said Nevin Buconjic, StartUP Sault Founder. The Roadmap is the third piece in a larger project to map out Sault Ste. Marie’s Startup Ecosystem, funded through the Startup Canada Catalyst Fund (www.startupcan.ca).
In November 2015, StartUP Sault also released an infographic of Sault Ste. Marie’s Startup Ecosystem, available at www.startupsault.com/Infographic, and together with its community partners, also completed a Startup Ecosystem Canvas to identify existing services and resources. The canvas is a living document that helps to identify weaknesses and areas of improvement needed to develop a thriving small business ecosystem.
“There are a wealth of support services and funding available to entrepreneurs and business owners,” said Tom Vair, Executive Director, Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre. “It’s great that StartUP Sault has created this infographic, and is helping to ensure that everyone is aware of the supportive environment for businesses in our community.”
Andrew Ross, Manager of Enterprise Services, Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation added, “The Startup Roadmap is another great tool that we can use with our own clients to help guide them to other available services and opportunities. StartUP Sault has organized all of the local resources in the community into an easy-to-understand roadmap for small business.”
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.
About StartUP Sault:
StartUP Sault connects new entrepreneurs with the small business resources available in the community, and provides the support of existing entrepreneurs who are building successful companies.
Our community enterprise partners include the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC), Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation (SSMEDC), Community Development Corporation of Sault Ste. Marie & Area, Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce, Sault College, Social Enterprise Evolution (SEE) Business Development Bank of Canada and Village Media Inc.