John Kiru
The City has taken the lead with the help of major corporate sponsors and Toronto’s business improvement areas in creating an Internet sales resource for small businesses called the Digital Main Street platform. It is supported by powerhouse firms — Rogers, Yellow Pages, Shopify, MasterCard and Google. The inspiration came from John Kiru, executive director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Associations.(TABIA). The program launched June 13 and already has some 600 small businesses participating. Any merchant who has tried to become a webmaster will know how time-consuming and potentially wasteful it can be to try to do business online. Digital Main Street has an online hub, digital service squad dispatched to train local businesses on web strategy, training and workshops to help the city’s small business community market and sell online. The basic services are free to use.
