Happy Small Business Week! From join us in celebrating small businesses in St. Catharines and recognizing the important role they play in our community. Whether its grabbing a cup of joe to-go from your favourite coffee shop, stopping to buy the latest reads at your neighbourhood independent bookshop or enjoying a date night at that local restaurant you've been dying to try, we encourage everyone to support local this week, and every week.
For our business owners, operators and entrepreneurs, check out these digital tools recommended by Celina Spanos, Digital Service Squad Co-ordinator at the City of St. Catharines, to help take your small business to the next level.
Trello
Keep everything in the same place—even if your team isn’t. Trello is a project management application that enables users to organize and prioritize tasks and projects.
Key features:
- Customizable boards, lists, and cards to help you organize tasks
- Collaboration tools for team members to share thoughts and ideas
- Progress tracking capabilities
- Free and paid plans available. Free plan is helpful for individuals and teams looking to organize an project.
Calendly
Easy scheduling ahead. Calendly is an online scheduling tool that simplifies the process of scheduling meetings by allowing users to set their availability preferences, and automatically coordinates with invitees to find mutually convenient meeting times.
- Automated appointment and meeting scheduling
- Email notifications and reminders for scheduled events.
- Easy integration with Google and Outlook calendars
- Free and paid plans available. Free plan includes tools for individuals starting out with basic scheduling
HotJar
Everything you ever wanted to know about your website ... but your analytics never told you. Hotjar is a website behaviour analytics tool that helps website owners understand how users interact with their website.
- Heatmaps to visualize user engagement
- Recordings of user sessions for website analysis.
- Feedback tools like surveys and polls for gathering user opinions
- Free and paid plans available. Free plan includes access to automatic data capture, unlimited heatmaps and HubSpot integrations.
Mailchimp
Use real-time behavior data and AI to convert more customers. Mailchimp is an email marketing and automation platform that enables businesses to create, send, and manage email campaigns.
- Drag and drop email editor for creating visually appealing campaigns
- Reporting and analytics features for tracking campaign success
- Contact management and segmentation features for targeted marketing
- Free and paid plans available. The free plan features tools to easily create email campaigns and learn more about your customers.
Buffer
Grow your audience on social and beyond. Buffer is a social media management platform that allows users to easily post across various social media networks from one location.
- Allows posting on multiple social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn
- Provides analytics for performance tracking and optimization
- Facilitates team collaboration and management of multiple social media accounts
- Free and paid plans available. Free plan features planning and publishing tools, landing page builder and AI Assistant.
Could your small business use a digital boost? Schedule a free consultation with Celina to learn more about how these apps and other digital marekting tools can work for you.
Regional Chair and Niagara Mayors statement on the imposition of American tariffs
St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe has joined Niagara Region Chair Jim Bradley and the Niagara Mayors in releasing a statement on the imposition of American tariffs on Canadian goods.
St. Catharines unveils new economic development and tourism strategy
The City of St. Catharines unveiled it’s updated economic development and tourism strategy, a guiding document providing policies, programs and initiatives ensuring the City continues its vision to be a safe, innovative, sustainable and caring community today and for future generations. At its September 24, 2024 meeting, St. Catharines City Council approved the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy: 2024 to 2029.
Resources for food businesses
Restaurants or food trucks, home-based businesses or commercial locations, food manufacturing or agri-businesses, there are resources to help you start or grow your food focused business. Check these out!
Steps to Starting a Small Business
March 4, 2025
Wondering where to start with your small business? Join us for an introduction to the rules and regulations surrounding your small business start-up.