Digital Main Street welcomes Yellow Pages partnership to support COVID-19 recovery for small business

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts for all Canadians, including small businesses that are a critical part of local economies,” said John Kiru, Executive Director of TABIA.  “As we build back better, we are thrilled to have Yellow Pages join Digital Main Street which will support small business owners with the digital tools and services they need to respond to the evolving challenges of COVID-19.” 

In its partnership with Digital Main Street, Yellow Pages is making its full suite of tools and services for small business owners available, some of which include: e-commerce, placement on yp.ca, reputation management, website design, search solutions and social media advertising. Additional information on Yellow Pages’ suite of tools and services can be found here: Businesscentre.yp.ca

“We’re working to support Main Street businesses that are a source of local jobs – and local pride,” said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.  “With the expanded Digital Main Street program and its partners, we’re ensuring that all types of businesses have support to withstand the impacts of COVID-19, and become more competitive in the future.”

“Ontario's small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and their recovery is critical to Ontario's recovery,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction. “As thousands of small businesses across the province have had to close their doors and halt business during periods of the COVID-19 outbreak, many have struggled to shift sales or services online. I am very pleased, that with partners like Yellow Pages, Ontario and our federal partners’ investment into Digital Main Street is providing small businesses with the tools they need to recover and rebuild.

Over the next year, this new collaboration will support Digital Main Street initiatives across Canada in the following ways:

• By increasing the capacity of Digital Main Street programming, including supporting advanced development of the online web platform, which is a hub for small businesses to receive on-demand training.
• By supporting the continued growth of the ShopHERE program powered by Google Canada, to help in the goal of getting 50,000 businesses across Canada online through the development of e-commerce storefronts.
• By increasing the capacity of the Digital Service Squad, enabling SMBs to receive direct 1-on-1 support through consultation meetings and online webinar training sessions.

About Digital Main Street

Digital Main Street is a program that helps main street businesses achieve digital transformation. The program is built around an online learning platform, structured training programs, and our Digital Service Squad, a team of street-level team members who help main street businesses grow and manage their operations through technology. To date over 1,000 local vendors have signed up to be part of the Digital Main Street platform through the open-sourced Répertoire des fournisseurs – allowing businesses to source hyperlocal partners for their projects.

Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Microsoft, Facebook, Square and Intuit QuickBooks. A $42.5-million investment from FedDev Ontario and an additional $7.45 million from the Government of Ontario brought together, the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, Communitech, Invest Ottawa and the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association to expand the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses to go digital as a response to the impacts of COVID-19.

About Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages is a Canadian digital and print media company offering businesses comprehensive media solutions to meet their key marketing objectives and providing consumers with platforms to access reliable local business information. By helping local businesses foster stronger relationships with their consumers through its various media, Yellow Pages encourages the growth of thriving local economies.

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Contacts:

Darryl Julott, Digital Main Street

[email protected]