Thrive Oxford Ready to Launch in January

Wednesday, 11 December 2019 at 14:07

Thrive Oxford is a new program from Community Futures Oxford that is designed to support female entrepreneurs, starting or growing a business in Oxford County.

OXFORD COUNTY - Community Futures Oxford is ready to launch Thrive Oxford in the new year.

The program is designed to support female entrepreneurs, starting or growing a business in Oxford County. Thrive Oxford was made possible through a $48,000 Libro Credit Union Prosperity Fund.

Community Economic Development Coordinator, Lindsay Wilson says you can apply now, for the sixth month program.

"The participants in the program will get guidance and support to grow their business, but also to help them focus on making smart, sustainable decisions within their business. We have different topics each month and support from professionals to kind of help them along the path. A big focus of the program as well is ensuring they have access to capital, in order to expand their business in the ways they want to do so."

Wilson explains why they wanted to create a program for female entrepreneurs.

"Statistically woman entrepreneurs, just aren't having access to the funding and support they need to be successful, so there was an opportunity to fill a gap in the services that are available. This is a national trend, this is not unique to Oxford County. This was a way for us to fill a gap, that we knew needed to be filled. When we met with a lot of woman entrepreneurs, there number one challenge in growing their business was getting the capital they needed."

Erica Unger-Grieve, Community Manager for Libro Credit Union in Woodstock explains why they wanted to support Thrive Oxford.

“Thrive Oxford is exactly the kind of inspirational program that we seek out for partnership opportunities. Libro’s goal of growing prosperity for communities across southwestern Ontario is all about working together for positive outcomes, so we look forward to seeing the ways Thrive Oxford will support female entrepreneurs.”

Over the course of the program, participants will define business development goals focused on expansion and sustainability. To achieve these goals, support will be provided on topics such as financial literacy, public speaking, marketing and how to successfully secure funding. Each cohort will include a live pitch presentation for cash and in-kind prizes. Many training components will be delivered by experts from Oxford County and anyone from the community wishing to be involved in sharing their expertise can complete an Expression of Interest.

The Thrive Oxford program will officially launch in January 2020, but information about eligibility, application process and timelines can be found on the Community Futures Oxford website, including details about the first information session.