CORNWALL, Ontario – The Downtown Business Improvement Association (DBIA) has launched the second edition of their Win this Space contest.
Win this Space is a Dragons Den style competition where entrepreneurs argue why they should win $1,000 of free rent for a year at a vacant storefront in Cornwall’s downtown.
“It’s been a fantastic whirlwind,” said Sue-Anne Heitmann of Fairy Sweet, last year’s Win this Space winners. “We still haven’t settled from the hype.”
Heitmann explained that Fairy Sweet had operated as an at-home business for six years prior to winning the 2018 Win this Space competition and that the opportunity to get a storefront really pushed them to grow the business.
“We learned a lot of things a new entrepreneur wouldn’t normally think about,” said Heitmann. “Now mom is needing help to keep up so we will be hiring sooner than we thought, which is a great problem to have.”
It is more than just financial support that the DBIA is offering their winner. The winner of the contest will also be getting some business pointers as well.
“It’s not enough to simply have an idea and open a business,” said Todd Lihou, Centretown Coordinator with Heart of the City. “Entrepreneurs must be armed with other knowledhge to make their idea grow and their operation succeed. It’s why we have entered into a partnership with the good people at the Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre (CBEC) who will offer several weeks of free training to help our participants secure a solid foundation in marKeting and business plan creation.”
The deadline for applications will be April 26 at 4 p.m. Entries can be emailed to Lihou at todd@cornwallheartofthecity.com or delivered to the Cornwall and Area Chamber of Commerce at 113 Second St. East.
Up to 25 entrants will be selected who will receive four-to-five weekly training sessions with CBEC to help develop their idea.
Those 25 entrepreneurs must submit their business plans and supporting documents by 4 p.m. in order to make it to the semi-finals. Semi-finalists have until 4 p.m. on Aug. 30 to submit their final business plans to the DBIA.
On Sept. 10, a live Dragons Den style competition will be taking place amongst the finalists with the winner getting the coveted space. The final event on Sept. 10 will be filmed by YourTV.
Entry forms can be found at www.dowtowncornwall.com or can be picked up at the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce.
