Helping Businesses Purchase PPE

Monday, 31 August 2020 07:52

The "Safe Opening Program" is available for a limited time for tourism operators in Southwestern Ontario. The program offers a $1,000 grant to help with PPE supplies.

WOODSTOCK - Tourism Operators in Southwestern Ontario can apply for a $1,000 grant.

The money is being made available from the Southwest Ontario Tourism Corporation, supported by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. The "Safe Opening Program" is available for a limited time. The grant money is available to businesses that are involved in actively selling tourism products or experiences or have a specific mandate to attract tourists.

The grant can be applied to items that were purchased retroactive to April 1 st 2020 to meet safety requirements to allow the safe re-opening of their business.

Reimbursement can be applied to costs for:
- Physical distancing (signs, plexiglass, etc.)
- Technology upgrades supporting touchless service
- Increased cleaning and sanitization
- Other requirements as outlined in ‘A Framework for Reopening our Province’

Executive Director for Southwest Ontario Tourism Corporation Jim Hudson says they hope this money can help.

“After consulting with many levels of the industry it became evident that supporting tourism businesses in this way addresses their most immediate need. Now seeing and hearing the initial overwhelmingly positive response from the operators, it’s clear they appreciate that we are listening and want to help."

Susan Judd, Chair of the SWOTC Board of Directors, adds It is very important to those of us in the tourism industry to ensure our opening environments are ultra-safe.

"Research shows that is the most important consideration in the mind of prospective visitors in deciding whether to come.”

The intake process will be on a “First Come, First Served” basis until the budget is reached with a second intake in December 2020. Each business will only be reimbursed one time.

Visit www.swotc.ca/safeopening to learn more about the program. Applications for the ‘Safe Opening Program’ will be at or after 10 am on Tuesday, September 15th.