StartUp Lloydminster is looking to help more local businesses grow in their new space.
The not-for-profit organization moved to 4B 4010-50 Avenue next to Community Futures. StartUp Lloydminster Business Coach Holly Andony invites everyone to drop by their new location.
“It’s got a great open concept that’s really conducive to our working space. It’s a really nice open updated unique space and we’re really excited about it.”
At their old location in the Community Services Building, StartUp had two separate areas but with their new space, they’ve combined them to one. They’ve also added two soundproof booths for people to work in and two 3D printers.
StartUp Lloydminster is a not-for-profit that works with people who want to start a business and helps them through the process. They also help existing businesses by creating business plans or helping them in any of their other goals.
By being next to Community Futures, Andony says it will save clients a lot of time as well as their own organization as they have a number of projects they’ve partnered on.
“It saves a lot of steps. It’s easier with the face-to-face introductions. In the past, we met with clients and when they were ready to meet with Community Futures it’s us e-mailing one or the other. Having the ability to walk our clients over to meet them directly or introduce them is a really great fit for what we do.”
Clients who have finished their plans will go to Community Futures for funding. Some businesses will go to Community Futures but are in need of a more concrete business plan and will be referred to StartUp.
Andony says StartUp has grown in the past two years despite a downturn in the economy.
“I think that has brought an increase to our client flow. There’s a number of people in the area that have found themselves unemployed or frustrated on how dependent their jobs or livelihood are on the oilfield and the ups and downs that can potentially bring. There are people who come in ready to take a step into something that they’ve always wanted to do and have more control over their destiny.”
Andony says they have many projects planned for the future and will continue to focus on their current project such as their partnership with Community Futures to support women entrepreneurs in the Border City.
