YSpace Northern Entrepreneurship Hub
Entrepreneurship in East Gwillimbury
The Town of East Gwillimbury and Town of Georgina are continuing a partnership with York University’s YSpace to deliver a two-year Business Incubator/Accelerator pilot project to support entrepreneurs and economic growth during the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
YSpace Northern Entrepreneurship Hub will create an ecosystem of entrepreneurial resources, including mentorship, access to networks, and co-working space for collaboration. It will foster new business opportunities as well as personal and professional development for new and existing entrepreneurs. A combination of on-demand business support and programming within Georgina and East Gwillimbury, both in-person and virtually, will be offered. Programs will be refined and augmented to address the specific needs of each business community.
Current Programming
Business Foundations
This educational workshop series covers topics such as building a business plan, digital marketing, understanding your analytics, and setting up business operations. Additionally, individuals who attend at least seven out of the nine workshops (minimum of one hour on each call), will receive an Innovation York Certificate of Completion, illustrating your dedication to learning about the essentials of launching a successful business.
The program is open to entrepreneurs 18+ who reside in northern York Region, primarily in East Gwillimbury, Georgina, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nations and the surrounding area. For established business owners or first-time founders, this program is designed to provide entrepreneurs with what they need to start or refine an existing business.
If you need assistance with registration, please send an email to stsimpson@georgina.ca or kscott@georgina.ca.
Business Foundations Schedule
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Market Research and Idea Validation |
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Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: This workshop is designed to equip entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills to conduct effective market research and validate their business ideas. |
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Building a Business Plan |
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Date: Tuesday, July 04, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: This workshop teaches the fundamentals and techniques to build a business plan as it is a vital step in creating your new business. It outlines the company’s vision and creates a road map that gives potential business partners an opportunity to gain deep insights into the business. |
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Setting Up Business Operations |
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Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: In this workshop, you will learn how to look at the operations of your business and put in place effective processes that will help you manage your business, with future growth. |
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Digital Marketing and Understanding Your Analytics |
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Date: Tuesday, July 18, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: In this educational workshop, will provide an overview of social media best practices and trends for 2023. We'll look at the basics of today’s most popular social media channels including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn while also discussing the importance of making a social media plan and the tools that can help you understand your analytics. |
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Grants and Funding |
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Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: In this workshop, we discuss how funding and grants work for new and existing businesses. Learn where to find financial help and resources that can help launch or grow your business. |
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Business Finance 101 |
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Date: Tuesday, August 01, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: In this workshop, entrepreneurs will learn the key systems and processes to implement into your business to ensure you are building a strong financial foundation. Learn the tools that can be used to track your business revenue and expenses, build your financial reports for key stakeholders, basic business terminology, meaning of financial statements and what you need to watch out for as a founder or CEO. |
| Pitching Your Business and Generating Sales |
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Date: Tuesday, August 15, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: This workshop will give you the formula to grow your business while attracting a steady flow of customers. |
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Building an Effective Team |
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Date: Tuesday, August 22, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: This week’s workshop will provide entrepreneurs with tools and strategies that will help them to strategically hire employees to build an effective team for your business. |
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Scaling-Up Your Business |
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Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2023 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Online, Zoom Description: This workshop is designed for entrepreneurs who are ready to take their business to the next level. It will provide practical guidance and tools for scaling your business. Whether you are looking to expand your product line, hire more employees, or open a new location, this workshop will provide the insights and tools you need to scale your business successfully. |
Idea Consultations
Free one-on-one consultation services that connect entrepreneurs with YSpace’s entrepreneurship team to understand how the entrepreneurial ecosystem can help your idea come to life.
The program is open to entrepreneurs 18+ who reside in northern York Region, primarily in East Gwillimbury, Georgina and the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nations. Whether you are an established business owner or a first-time founder, this program is designed to provide what you need to start or refine your business.
The program provides:
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Free one-on-one consultation with a business professional
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A defined roadmap aligned to your unique needs
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Access to additional support or mentorship via an ecosystem of volunteers through the local ecosystem of resources
Past Programming
| Digital Skills for Business (Registration Closed) |
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The Digital Skills program is an educational workshop series that focuses on building your business online. This series will cover topics like social media, digital marketing, e-commerce, SEO, and how-to-use tools like Facebook Meta, Google Ads, and Google Analytics. Individuals who attend 12/15 sessions can apply for eight weeks of business development mentorship following the program. Need help applying your new digital skills for your business? Just drop in. This program includes two practical drop in sessions in both Georgina and East Gwillimbury. In addition to virtual workshops, participants can join in-person peer-to-peer networking sessions and a bonus Ask Me Anything with a marketing expert. |
| Business Plan Bootcamp (Applications Closed) |
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Business Plan Bootcamp is an eight-week, free-of-charge educational entrepreneurship series that helps aspiring or existing business owners write and develop their business plan. Participants will learn from weekly on-demand workshops, meet with mentors and network with other business owners. The program is open to entrepreneurs 18+ who reside in northern York Region, primarily in East Gwillimbury, Georgina, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nations and the surrounding area. For established business owners or first-time founders, this program is designed to provide entrepreneurs with what they need to start or refine their business plan. |
| Business Foundations (Registration Closed) |
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Interested in building your entrepreneurial skills to launch a new business or want to build on the foundation of your business? Whether you want to learn how to start a business or have a business of your own this program aims to equip you with the essential skills and knowledge needed to succeed. This free-of-charge educational workshop series covers Building a Business Plan, Setting Up Business Operations, Marketing, and Social Media. Additionally, individuals who attend at least seven out of the nine workshops (minimum of one hour on each call), will receive an Innovation York Certificate of Completion, illustrating your dedication to learning about the essentials of launching a successful business. |
Program Updates
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Become a Program Mentor |
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Interested in becoming a program mentor? YSpace is excited to partner with the Town of Georgina and the Town of East Gwillimbury to launch small business supports in the local communities through what we are calling our Idea Consultation program. The program is designed to help connect local entrepreneurs and business owners to mentors and resources within their local communities. With that, we are expanding our outreach to potential engage with new startups. Mentorship roles and commitments vary depending on the programs and startup needs. At this point in time, we are not looking for a specific skill set but rather doing a large call out to interested individuals. We kindly ask you to fill out the following application to help us better understand your background, and assess the best fit with our programs. Once completed, a YSpace representative will be in touch to setup an introductory call. If you have any questions on time or experience requirements, please reach out to yspace@yorku.ca and we are happy to answer any questions that you may have. |
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Other Program Updates |
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Corporate Services Memorandum To: Council From: Margot Bégin, Director Economic Development Date: March 22, 2022 Subject: Business Incubator/Accelerator Programming Update
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For more information, contact Stephanie Simpson at stsimpson@georgina.ca or YSpace at yspace@yorku.ca.
Contact Us Now
Margot Bégin, Ec D. (F)
Director of Economic Development
Tel: 905-478-4282 x1289
Email Margot
Brittny Stevenson-Byers
Economic Development Assistant