Local small business The Pencil Box ~ Coffee Talk Express gets $10K grant from Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Salesforce
(CHETWYND) – June 29, 2020 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce announced 62 $10,000 grant recipients from its Canadian Business Resilience Network Small Business Relief Fund today, including The Pencil Box ~ Coffee Talk Express here in Chetwynd.
Owner Ramonda Davidson said The Pencil Box ~ Coffee Talk Express is honoured to be a recipient of the CBRN Small Business Relief Fund.
“We thank the community for their support and my staff who have gone over and above to ensure that our customers and our community are taken care of,” Ramona Davidson, owner of The Pencil Box ~ Coffee Talk Express said, adding the funds will help with extra expenses caused by the Covid19 including PPE such as hand sanitizer and plexiglass barriers. “And it will help reduce some of our debt.”
“This is absolutely wonderful,” Naomi Larsen, Executive Director of the Chetwynd Chamber of Commerce said. “This was a fantastic program and I am so incredibly happy we were able to assist a local business and long-standing member of our Chamber here in our amazing community. Congratulations to Ramona and her staff.”
More than 1100 small businesses across Canada applied for the 62 grants available. The lucky recipients were those that best demonstrated their financial strain, how the business will use the grant to change or innovate, how the change or innovation will sustain the business’s recovery and allow it to prosper, and how the grant will support the role each business plays in their community.
The fund was managed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and made possible through the generosity of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM). The funding was designed to help small businesses across the country stay afloat and support their recovery efforts, paying salaries, retrofitting their workplaces and acquiring technology to adapt their business model. Salesforce has also provided grants to small businesses in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, in addition to providing other resources.
“Reviewing the applications was both heartbreaking and inspiring, We saw how seriously small businesses across Canada have been hurt by the pandemic, but we also saw how determined these entrepreneurs are to preserve their employees’ jobs and to serve their customers and their communities. Today is a happy waypoint, not an end point, and we won’t stop finding new ways to help Canada’s businesses reopen and recover. We’ll be with them every step of the way,” said Perrin Beatty, President and CEO, Canadian Chamber.
“It has been incredible to see the resilience coming from Canada’s small business owners over the last few months. We know it hasn’t been easy,” said Margaret Stuart, Canada Country Manager, Salesforce. “The applicants have further demonstrated what we at Salesforce already knew to be true - that Canada is rich with innovation and entrepreneurial talent. We’re hopeful that these grants will provide essential support to small business owners as they return to work.”
A complete list of the winners can be found here.
About Chetwynd Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber of Commerce is a network for entrepreneurial business and professional leaders to partner in representation, communication and education. We provide our members with: Networking, Group Benefits and affordable Marketing and Advertising opportunities and most importantly a Voice of Business, as a collective group. Come join our 130+ businesses in the Chetwynd area who recognize the value of the chamber network.
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For more information, please contact:
Naomi Larsen Phil Taylor
Chetwynd Chamber of Commerce Canadian Chamber of Commerce
