The Events of October

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October 2021 Issue:

Events, Marketing & E-Scooters

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St. Albert Celebrates Small Business Week & Business Excellence Awards

by Amanda MacDonald- amacdonald@stalbert.ca

BDC’s Small Business Week is an annual celebration of small businesses recognized nation wide. This year’s Small Business Week takes place October 17-23, 2021. During the week there are free events, information sessions and online networking opportunities for businesses to participate in.

Stay tuned to the events listing as more are being updated:

BDC Small Business Week events https://www.bdc.ca/en/small-business-week/about

Business Link Events https://businesslink.ca/events/

Chamber of Commerce Events https://business.stalbertchamber.com/events/calendar

ATB Events: https://atbentrepreneurcentre.com/events/

During the same week locally the Chamber of Commerce hosts a Business Excellence Week and their annual Business Excellence Awards of Distinction is their signature event to recognize locally nominated businesses. Set a reminder to stay tuned to register and watch the award show.

St. Albert Chamber - Business Excellence Awards October 21

https://business.stalbertchamber.com/events/details/business-excellence-awards-of-distinction-october-21-2021-1851?calendarMonth=2021-10-01

Save the Date - St. Albert Dining Week

by Amanda MacDonald- amacdonald@stalbert.ca

Discover new local restaurants and appreciate your favorites

Indulge your palate during our third annual Dig In Dining Week running from November 5-14, 2021.

This ten-day-long dining extravaganza showcases the diverse culinary talent of St. Albert and special offers for Breakfast, Brunch & Lunch with options priced at $15 or $20, and 2-3 course dinner options for $25/$35 or $50.

With over 20 participating restaurants to choose from you can browse the Dig In Dining Week restaurant menus online to plan ahead, or curate your own bucket list of local cuisine to try out. Make sure to enter the Dig In Contest for your chance to win a gift card from one of the participating restaurants.

More details on www.diginstalbert.ca

Upcoming Municipal Election

by Alex Cunningham- acunningham@stalbert.ca

On October 18, 2021, you can cast your vote in the upcoming Municipal Election. Voting is an important responsibility and to prepare yourself we encourage you to learn more about current issues facing the City. Now is the time to vote for leaders who you believe will represent and support your interests.

Visit our I nformation for Voters Page to learn more about:

Important Dates (Advance Vote, Institutional Vote, etc.)
Voting Station Locations
COVID-19 Voting Station Safety

Please check back regularly as additional information may be posted closer to Election Day.

The Power of Digital Marketing

Providing Digital Expertise to St. Albert Businesses

by Patricia Nicol- pnicol@stalbert.ca

In today’s economy and challenging global crisis, it has become even more crucial for small business to find effective and creative ways to promote their product and stay ahead of their competition. Online shopping continues to be a primary method for consumers to research, compare and purchase goods and services, with businesses who have a strong digital presence seeing greater returns. Understanding the nuances of creating and managing your online presence are equally important.

St Albert’s Economic Development team has partnered up with U of A School of Business to offer the St Albert business community access to a Digital Service Squad (DSS), facilitated through Business Link. The DSS will provide 1-on-1 FREE local assistance for digital services to small businesses in St. Albert. The service includes training and advisory support of digital strategy development, social media posts, methods for taking inspiring pictures for your businesses and creating posts that will help increase awareness of your business and provide you with the means to continue to maintain your digital presence.

U of A marketing students will work with businesses to complete an assessment which will help establish the businesses online presence, improve, or enhance their digital literacy, and connect the business with aftercare support in the community. These trained specialists will meet with each qualified business to complete an online assessment and walk them through online training modules to build digital knowledge, skills and guide them through the implementation process.

The program will be rolling out in mid November 2021 and will be available to any St. Albert business with 50 or less employees, including home based businesses. Each business that qualifies will receive up to 15 hours of consultation services at no charge. Stay tuned for more details and program dates.

Small Business Digital Marketing Program

E-Scooter Pilot Survey

by Monty Killoh- mkilloh@stalbert.ca

On August 16, 2021 Council approved a proposal for an E-Scooter Pilot Project for the City of St. Albert. The Pilot allows e-scooter companies to deploy their shared e-scooter fleets in St. Albert for residents to use from September 2021 through the end of 2022.

A survey about the pilot is now available on the City’s Cultivate the Conversation page for E-Scooters. The City will be using feedback from the survey to help evaluate the pilot project.

Business Spotlight On...XO and Mane

by Monty Killoh- mkilloh@stalbert.ca

XO and Mane is St. Albert’s newest specialty gift shop, located in the heart of St. Albert’s Perron District. Owner Sandra originally got her entrepreneurial start in St. Albert with a wedding planning business, and the shift to include specialty gifts came naturally: “I always dreamed of branching into the gifting world – I thought it was a good way to expand the wedding planning. I help people plan the big event, but I love having a beautiful store where people can come in and pick-up some goodies to help them celebrate their day!”

The name of the business – XO and Mane – represents who Sandra is and what she wants you to see in the shop: “XO is for hugs and kisses – a nod to weddings and warm feelings – and mane is for lions; you can see little gold lions throughout the store, and it represents my feisty entrepreneur side.” Sandra continues to offer wedding planning services at the new location, which combined with the gift boutique gives the space a unique dual-purpose.

Although gifts for brides and women are a major focus for the boutique, the store also includes gift sections for kids, home decor, bath, clothing, etc., making the store a reliable one-stop-shop for anyone’s gifting needs. In addition to gifts and planning related to weddings, the boutique also provides curated gift boxes, with corporate gift boxes being a popular pick in the community: “We partner with a courier that will bring the corporate gift boxes anywhere within the Edmonton area. We work with the business to curate the box to get to a price point, and they can come into the store to take a peek at the items. It’s an easy way to do quality gifting. It’s very customizable for each client, and we carry a wide variety of Canadian and Albertan products. I realize how important tokens of appreciation are – gifting goes a long way, it’s an affordable way to tell employees that you appreciate them!”

Creating a friendly and positive environment for customers is a key aspect of the business, as Sandra notes: “anybody can come in and walk out with something that makes them happy. We want people to come in and feel that we’re friends, and we want them to walk out feeling really good about the gifts they’ve purchased.” The future plans for the business are to focus on events as the pandemic winds down: “Events are our heart and soul. We want to have monthly events like shopping and make-up nights for St. Albert moms and women – we want a fun space for gathering and making connections, not just shopping!”

XO and Mane Boutique

110 – 20 Perron Street

780-690-1376

hello@xoandmane.com

https://www.xoandmane.com/

The Spotlight on Business is a monthly feature wherein we highlight a local business and learn more about what they do and how they positively contribute to the identity and economy of St. Albert. If you, or someone you know, would like to be featured in a future issue, please contact economicdevelopment@stalbert.ca with a brief description of the organization.