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Struggling coffee shop owner finally gets grant money — but only with a reporter’s help. Many small businesses have encountered problems with the provincial grant application process
Other entrepreneurs the Star spoke to said it wasn’t until they sought help from the media or a political foe that they began to get help, answers and action about their Ontario Small Business Support Grant. The emergency funding is intended to help struggling businesses stay afloat during this pandemic, when lockdowns have cut sharply into revenues. To date, ministry staff have handled more than 150,000 calls from applicants asking for help, the email said. “It shouldn’t take a reporter and a politician to get involved in a small business application,” Bell said. It was a last-ditch effort to go to the media, Makhlouf said.
Source: thestar June 10, 2021 18:56 UTC
