Good Afternoon All, A while back I had emailed you about the situation surrounding rising insurance rates and in some cases insurance policies not being renewed. We pushed this issue with Premier Ford and he said that he would "lay the hammer down on insurance companies". Since then we haven't heard any updates and we haven't seen the effects of the so-called "hammer being laid down". So we're working with TABIA and our fellow Toronto BIAs to push this issue…

Good Wintery Afternoon All, Given the snow storm happening I thought this was a good time to let you know about a couple of things that will be happening in our BIA. 1. Snow Clearing The City was offering BIAs the opportunity to apply for a Winter Activation grant. We applied and were accepted. We will be using part of this grant to pay for curated snow removal within our BIA. Each year we have the problem of large snow…

Good Afternoon All, Last week I had circulated an opportunity for our members to sign up with Get In The Loop - a marketing app that is only being offered to a select few BIAs in the City. It is a completely free program which would add to your current marketing on social media - what you are currently promoting on social media can easily be added to this program and expand your consumer reach. This program is open to…

Good Afternoon All, Through Digital Main Street I put our BIA forward to be considered to participate in a new program called Get In The Loop and we were 1 of 5 BIAs accepted! I've met with the owner and team from Get In The Loop and was impressed. Because this is being done in partnership with Digital Main Street the team is anxious to work with our members and to ensure that this new marketing app helps you during…

Good Morning All, I have two things for you this morning as follows: 1. Push on Big Box Stores Last week a working group made up of myself and some of my BIA colleagues worked with Councillor Brad Bradford and TABIA Executive Director John Kiru to craft a letter to Premier Ford urging him to alter the rules currently set for Big Box stores. The letter is attached to this email. We have posted it today on our BIA social …

Good Afternoon All, We've just received word that the Provincial grant portal will finally open tomorrow - Friday, January 15th. Below are two links: one for the actual application; and, one which provides information on the grant. I encourage you to apply as soon as possible once the portal opens up. As a reminder, this grant is for small businesses and ranges from $10,000 to $20,000 in funding. Application Link: https://www.app.grants.gov.on.ca/msrf/#/ Application Guide: https://www.app.grants.gov.on.ca/msrf/assets/guide.pdf Thanks, Susan