ACE Coworking Cares

ACE Coworking Cares

We are always amazed at the sheer number of local organizations and volunteers hard at work to make Oakville and Halton Region a better place for us all. Recently we’ve had the privilege of partnering with some of these amazing groups and/or participating in their fundraising efforts. We’d like to continue to help them raise awareness for the important work they do, so here’s a little run-down of what we (and especially THEY) have been up to…

 Grief Support for Families

The Lighthouse for Grieving Children & Families is an organization that provides support programs for local children who’ve lost a parent or sibling.⁠ We have a long association with the Lighthouse; we’ve helped to raise funds and raise awareness, and on occasion we’ve donated space for their meetings. Most recently, “Team ACE” participated in their Annual 5KRun4LH. We had a great time (coworkers bonding!) and our $1300 raised helped to contribute towards the event’s grand total of $245,000. Thanks again to our members and friends who donated!⁠ Your contributions will help ensure that Lighthouse’s grief counselling services stay free for local youth in need.⁠ More info about this annual event here.

Conservation & Environment

If you are not yet acquainted with Oakvillegreen, we recommend that you check out their website right away! They are a non-partisan charity that has been helping protect and restore nature through community education and local action since 2000. Working with thousands of local volunteers, they protect and restore the ecological functions of Oakville lands and water, creating a more resilient and healthy community for us all. Their site is full of opportunities for you, your kids, or your workplace to get involved with their important initiatives. 

Oakvillegreen’s most recent board meeting – their first in-person one since before the pandemic – took place in our brand-new ACE Trafalgar boardroom. We were delighted to be able to support their efforts by donating our brand-new functional space to them.

 

Youth Mental Health

The 2nd Annual Camaraderie of Hope Golf Tournament took place last month at the Granite Ridge Golf Club in Milton. It was a fabulous day raising $12,000 for Bridging the Gap Halton. Bridging the Gap supports young people in our area, aged 16 to 24, who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. ACE Coworking donated a membership as a silent auction item, and was among 15 other local businesses who sponsored or supported the event in some way. Congrats to the Camaraderie of Hope organizers for a job well-done!

If you’d like to get more inspiration and education from the staff and partners of ACE Coworking, sign up for our monthly newsletter. You’ll also stay up to date on the events we run and the amazing promotions we often offer!

Oakville Small Business Owners: Best Resources

Oakville Small Business Owners: Best Resources

It’s Small Business Week: always a good time to reflect on how we operate as a local small biz in Oakville, how we can improve on delivering our service, and how we can help other companies deliver theirs…

Looking back to when we first opened our doors in January 2018, and reflecting on our journey since then, we feel incredibly fortunate to have had the support of many local organizations that have provided us with help, support, and encouragement. Really, we couldn’t have done it without drawing on the larger community of local entrepreneurs, and both the public and private organizations in Oakville whose aim it is to see small business succeed.

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely career path but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re running a small business, or thinking about jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, get to know these organizations and especially the committed people working in them. They are there to support the small business sector in our area and can be the difference between your business being a success or a failure.

LOCAL BIA

If you’re lucky enough to be located in a “Business Improvement Area,” your BIA office is a must-get-to-know. BIAs work to collaborate, extend market reach, and connect their members to one another. There are three BIAs in Oakville – Downtown, Bronte and Kerr Village – and they’re all awesome.

HALTON SMALL BUSINESS CENTRE

The Halton SBC is a treasure trove of supports for entrepreneurs. They run many learning programs to increase your technical and strategic business skills. “You get what you pay for” is often true – but in this case it’s not. The programming at the Small Business Centre is both low-cost (or free) and excellent.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BANK OF CANADA (BDC)

BDC offers various financing and funding options to small and medium-sized companies. They’re also a great source for strategic advice. We’ve had the chnace to partner with BDC to bring educational programs to our members, and they’ve always been a super informative resource.

DIGITAL MAIN ST

Digital Main St. is a grant program offered by the province of Ontario to support small businesses to incorporate digital assets into their business operations. They also offer useful free webinars. This has been a fantastic resource for ACE as we have continued to digitize more and more of our operational and marketing functions, especially this past year.

LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS

Both MP Anita Anand, and MPP Stephen Crawford have been supportive of our efforts to start a new business here in Oakville (especially during the pandemic). We have found their offices to be very responsive to our requests. Your local members of parliament want to help you and see you succeed. Don’t avoid reaching out for help when you need it. And while you’re at it, get to know your local Municipal Councillors – ours have been amazing cheerleaders as well as go-to experts on many local issues that affect our business.

CFIB

Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses is a membership-based organization that advocates for all independently-owned businesses in Canada. They are the voice of small business and work to influence government to understand our needs. They also have many resources you can tap to support your company.

OAKVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Last but not least, this organization led by a superb team of dedicated professionals, helps hundreds of local small businesses owners connect, learn, grow, and succeed. There are membership fees to join, but with over 70 annual events to participate in, and an extraordinarily supportive culture, it’s well worth the investment. More about the Chamber here.

If you’d like to get more inspiration and education from the staff and partners of ACE Coworking, sign up for our monthly newsletter. You’ll also stay up to date on the events we run and the amazing promotions we often offer!