BIA helping Perth businesses improve online presence to weather COVID-19

A local business improvement association in Perth is helping small businesses adapt to the digital realm, which continues to play an important role in adapting to life under COVID-19 restrictions.

“We brought in people from the digital mainstreet program to specifically work with our businesses on increasing their online presence,” explains John McKenty, chair of the Downtown Heritage Perth BIA, adding that they also brought in consultants from Shopify, “so that any businesses who wanted to establish an e-commerce platform, we had people to help them do that.”

McKenty tells CityNews, the moves were very well received by its members and critical, since he recognizes that having an online presence is also key to a post-pandemic future.

“We have to remember that the downtowns in our small rural communities have been facing an uphill battle even before COVID-19 in terms of being able to compete with the big-box stores and businesses like Amazon.”

He says it basically comes down to shopping local or saving money, and the BIA is doing everything they can to ensure merchants have a relationship with the community that's strong enough for residents to continue shopping local.

“We do whatever we can to put a face to the business,” adds McKenty.

That includes a lot of video work, like using Facebook to introduce people, and trying to encourage goodwill over revenue.

The local BIA chair provided a recent example, where local spot Michael's Table, currently closed during renovations, encouraged people to go visit Coutts Coffee Roastery & Cafe and enjoy a prepaid coffee on behalf of the restaurant.

“That is an absolutely fantastic move on [Michael's Table's] part. She's not going to generate any revenue, but she's going to generate a hell of a lot of goodwill in the community.”

The Town of Perth is covered by the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark Health Unit, and is currently in the 'green' zone of Ontario's colour-coded COVID-19 recovery framework.