Picture Perfect Returns to Halton Hills

Vol. 12 - Issue 6 September 29, 2022

Picture Perfect Returns to Halton Hills for Small Business Week
Digital Main Street Program and Grant Now Available
New Halton Hills Transit Service Realized Through Milton Partnership
Explore Halton Hills' New Community Improvement Plan (CIP)
Go Green Event on October 1
Halton Hills Chamber Business Excellence Awards
The Starter Company Plus Program Information Sessions
Halton Region Employment Survey - 2022 Call for Participation
Peel Halton Workforce Development Group - 2022 GTA Employer Survey
Discover Your Career in Manufacturing & Logistics with "Jumpstart to Success"
HHBRTA Fall Training Sessions
Halton Hills Economic Development Services & COVID-19 Information

for Small Business Week

In celebration of Small Business Week 2022, Invest Halton Hills has partnered with the Halton Hills Public Library to provide small business owners with free studio space and lightboxes for product photography.

Book a private room and bring your smartphone or utilize the library photography equipment to take high-quality product photos. Digital Main Street Coordinator, Natalie, will be there to assist you with any photography questions and provide some tips and tricks on how to produce digital content.

One-hour studio space sessions are available on Tuesday, October 18 from 1 - 4 p.m., and on Thursday, October 20 from 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Book your session

Digital Main Street Program and Grant Now Available

The Digital Main Street (DMS) program is available for small businesses with under 50 employees located within Halton Hills looking to make upgrades and improvements to their digital offerings. This includes website upgrades, e-commerce, digital advertising and social media. Businesses that have previously participated in DMS are able to continue to receive support.

Eligible businesses can apply for a $2,500 Digital Transformation Grant that can be used for contracting digital services, purchasing software, training courses, and purchasing digital hardware.

Please contact the Halton Hills DMS Coordinator to review your marketing goals and determine your eligibility for the available grants and services through Digital Main Street.

More about DMS

Pictured in front of a Milton Transit bus (left to right): Scott McCammon, President and CEO of the Milton Chamber of Commerce, Tony D’alessandro, Director of Transit Services for the Town of Milton, Mayor Rick Bonnette, Bill Andrews, Commissioner of Transportation and Public Works, Matthew Keogh, Chief Financial Officer of Hayward Gordon, and Melanie Frazer, Executive Director of the Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce.

New Halton Hills Transit Service Realized Through

Milton Partnership

Halton Hills celebrates a new foray into public transit with the launch of a Milton Transit bus route that will travel along Steeles Avenue in Halton Hills, from the Milton GO Station to the Lisgar GO Station in Mississauga.

“Transit service is a necessary infrastructure to support our businesses along the Steeles Avenue corridor by making it more accessible and attractive for workers locally and in the adjacent municipalities,” said Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette.

The route will see Milton buses serve 15 stops in Halton Hills, six days a week at 45-minute intervals. This first local transit route is part of the Halton Hills Transit Service Strategy, approved by the Council in 2019.

Explore Halton Hills' New Community Improvement Plan

At the June 13, 2022, Council meeting, Halton Hills adopted its new Community Improvement Plan (CIP), designed to support main street developments, prioritize green developments, incentive affordable housing, and encourage brownfield rehabilitation.

The full details and program requirements for Halton Hills’ new CIP are available on the Invest Halton Hills website, including a CIP inquiry online form.

Explore the new CIP

Go Green Event on October 1

The Town will host a Go Green event on Saturday, October 1, from 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., at the Halton Hills Library and Cultural Centre located at 9 Church Street, Georgetown.

The event will have free electric vehicle (EV) test drives by Plug'n Drive, an EV Owner's Section, green products on display by businesses, and tours of the green features of the Halton Hills Library and Cultural Centre.

More about Go Green

Halton Hills Chamber Business Excellence Awards

The Halton Hills Chamber Business Excellence Awards Ceremony will take place at Granite Ridge Golf Course on October 19 at 6 p.m.

The awards recognize the contributions of local businesses, organizations, and their teams. The awards are not just about a company’s financial success; they are intended to acknowledge a set of values that recognize social responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit, risk-taking, ideas, and innovation in the Halton Hills community – all of which contribute to a strong local economy.

The Starter Company Plus Program

Information Sessions

The Starter Company Plus program, offered by the Halton Small Business Centre, supports eligible (aspiring) entrepreneurs looking to build their small businesses. The program provides training, mentoring, and advice. It also helps small business owners to pitch for a $5,000 grant.

Register today to attend a Starter Company Plus information session to learn more about this training and grant program. Attendance at an information session is mandatory to apply to the program.

Information Session Dates:

Wednesday, October 5, 2022, from 10 - 11:30 a.m. (virtual) – Register here

Thursday, October 6, 2022, from 6 - 7:30 p.m. (virtual) – Register here

More about Starter Company Plus

Halton Region Employment Survey

2022 Call for Participation

To ensure they have the latest information on business and employment activities in Halton, the Halton Region engages business owners and operators across the region to participate in the annual Employment Survey.

To participate in the 2022 Employment Survey, you can:

Take the survey online.
Speak to one of the employment surveyors, who will be contacting businesses throughout Halton until September 30, 2022. Calls and emails will be made Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Take survey

Peel Halton Workforce Development Group -

2022 GTA Employer Survey

The 2022 GTA Employer Survey is sponsored by the Peel Halton Workforce Development Group with the support of over 40 partners, including local chambers of commerce, municipal governments, community colleges, and employment services agencies.

This is the 12^th year of the survey, which typically attracts over 500 employer responses. The survey analysis breaks the results down by employee size and industry so that businesses can benchmark their responses against similar employers.

Complete the survey

Discover your Career in Manufacturing and Logistics

with "Jumpstart to Success"

Considering a career in manufacturing or logistics? The Peel Halton Workforce Development Group is currently recruiting 50 jobseekers to learn essential skills for in-demand roles, including:

Production Associate
Warehouse Associate
General Labourer
Machine Operator

The Jumpstart to Success (JTS) Bootcamp is an industry-specific training program available to all jobseekers in the Peel Halton region. Through a 90-minute information session, you have the chance to learn and participate in activities to help you determine if this industry is a good fit for you.

The bootcamp will run from October 3 - 17, 2022.

HHBRTA Fall Training Sessions

The Hamilton Halton Brant Regional Tourism Association (HHBRTA) offers annual workforce development and training workshops and webinars to help build tourism business opportunities and encourage progress toward business development priorities in our region.

This year, HHBRTA is launching Fall Training Week – a 5-day training opportunity with both virtual and in-person training sessions offered at no cost. Sessions will include:

Digital Marketing on a Shoestring Budget – October 3 – 1:30 p.m.
Sustainable Culinary Tourism – October 4 – 9 a.m.
Crafting Content for Social Media – October 5 – 9:30 a.m.
Influence in 2022 – October 5 – 2 p.m.
Recruitment and Retention – October 6 – 10 a.m.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – October 6 – 1 p.m.
Google Analytics for Small Businesses – October 7 – 9:30 a.m.

Halton Hills Economic Development Services

& COVID-19 Information

Halton Hills’ Economic Development, Innovation and Culture division provides a full suite of high-quality services and supports to the business community that in turn foster a prosperous economy and enhance quality of life. These include:

Financial incentives via the Community Improvement Plan (CIP)
Business retention and expansion (BR&E) programming
Investment attraction, expansion and relocation
Business concierge service
Site selection assistance
Market research
Industry engagement
Workforce development
Supporting and advancing affordable housing projects and initiatives
Amplifying tourism’s economic benefits
Leveraging and supporting the arts and culture sector to raise quality of life

The Town offers existing and potential businesses a strategic platform for success, proximity to world-class markets, a distinct community with an ideal balance between urban and rural environments, and an outstanding quality of life.

As part of an ongoing commitment to engage with and support the local business community, Economic Development staff continue to update the Town’s COVID-19 Business Supports web page .

Please contact the Town’s Economic Development staff if you require assistance.

Please note:

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