Our GROW Pop-Up Shop is Growing!
Photo: Tara McCaulley, Manager of the Elgin / St. Thomas Small Business Enterprise Centre, joined Maddie King, Alex Popen & Andrew Gunn of young & free press for a photo recently at the Caboose next to the famous Jumbo monument in St. Thomas. The Caboose will soon house the GROW pop-up shop and become an accelerator space that supports the development of local artists & entrepreneurs.
On May 14, 2020, the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation announced a new artist development program in conjunction with GROW, the Elgin/St. Thomas Small Business Enterprise Centre, and Railway City Tourism. GROW began in 2019 as a short-term pop-up retail space available to small businesses looking to test a brick-and-mortar model. Through feedback from users, the partnership is being redeveloped into a longer-term accelerator space that will open in the Caboose at the Jumbo Memorial as soon as it is feasible to do so in accordance with COVID-19 re-opening phases. The GROW program is possible through a partnership with Fanshawe College. Financial support for the project has been generously provided by a private donor in collaboration with Andrew Gunn Consulting & our team at young & free press.
The new model will be directed specifically to artists and small businesses looking for retail space for 3-6 months. The accelerator model is intended to assist developing companies through access to mentorship and other support that will help them become stable, self-sufficient businesses. The rental cost for the space will be fully subsidized through the GROW program with mentorship provided through the Small Business Enterprise Centre. Businesses interested in using the space should connect with Sarah Noble, Business Advisor at the Elgin/St. Thomas Small Business Enterprise Centre.
Here is a cool twist: this partnership funding is allowing Railway City Tourism to expand the Railway City Arts Crawl to an online platform where Elgin and St. Thomas artists can sell their work online! This marketplace will be accessible directly through railwaycityartscrawl.com and will be launching before the end of May. There is no cost to participating artists beyond their own payment processing methods.
The Railway City Arts Crawl is a terrific local event that draws thousands of residents and visitors out to explore and experience the arts in St. Thomas every February. By supplementing this event with an online component, artists will build relationships and find more opportunities in the community. The Elgin / St. Thomas Small Business Enterprise Centre has seen a significant increase in the number of entrepreneurs building businesses in the creative industries over the past few years.
Artists interested in staying connected regarding these programs and other learning and growth opportunities should subscribe to the SBEC’s Art of Business Newsletter at railwaycityartscrawl.com.
For more information on how to GROW at the Caboose and participate in the Railway City Arts Crawl online e-commerce platform, please contact Sarah Noble at the Small Business Enterprise Centre at snoble@stthomas.ca or (226).545.0520.
