Acton Small Business Initiative - Help for Acton Businesses

There’s a new group in town with their sites set on growing Acton businesses. The Acton Small Business Initiative is the brainchild of 2 local businesswomen, Shannon Smith Seymour, CEO and Program Founder of M Power, and Sabrina Corker, a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones. The two started a Facebook group and set regularly scheduled meetings. Their page describes this as “A networking and small business support group for entrepreneurs in Acton, Ontario. Our goal is to provide small business partners with tools to foster connection, build better business practices, learn and develop skills, and manage resources. We all want business in Acton to flourish and together we can make that happen.” Their first meeting had 4 attendees. They have quickly grown, and the last meeting had 12 in attendance. The group isn’t just for brick and mortar stores. It’s a networking group for all business owners and entrepreneurs in Acton, and already includes online businesses, restaurants, the BIA, media and service type industries. “We see so much potential with Acton’s population and the diverse businesses” says Seymour. Key concerns are the 2 distinct business areas “creating a physical and figurative disconnect”. They see Acton as “downtown”, or anything west of the train tracks, and then the east end of town. How do you bring those groups together? Also, they have noted that “some business owners are happy with the status quo and it is great that they are happy with where they are at but there is still growth potential. We don’t see the networking that we see in other communities, like Georgetown.” The group is free to join and discusses topics “What does the community need?” and “How do we meet that?”, as well as practical topics like e-commerce, collaboration, effective social media and other marketing tools. They are looking to host future courses on some of these topics to help Acton businesses. Acton Small Business Initiative meets online, every other Wednesday, at 4pm. The next meeting is February 24. “Even if you cannot attend you can participate by reviewing the minutes and submitting topics and questions” says Seymour. To stay in the loop and participate in this group join their Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1044359342713351