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Business A6

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

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www.joshleblanc.ca Josh LeBlanc

REALTOR® (PART-TIME) 306-421-6778

Estevan’s new business incubator has its home

Estevan’s new business incubator has found its home.

The service, which is known as the Launchbox, will occupy part of the Spectra Financial building, located next to Affinity Credit Union. Jeff Taylor, who is the manager of the incubator, said there have been renovations that have already taken place, and he needs to organize the area.

He hopes to have it open to the public once restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic are lifted.

“We have the entryway where we’ll have printed business resources for people. I’ll be at the front, and I’ll always be there and available for any time anyone wants to come in and ask a question, or just come in and grab a coffee and talk about entrepreneurship,” he said.

The area will have three components. The first will be a business resource centre for people to come in and get help and advice for their business; it’s a service that is open to all at no cost. Taylor said he welcomes anyone who wants to come in and get advice about their business, regardless of the stage. It could be someone who has an idea in their mind, or the head of a multi-national company looking to come to Estevan.

“If you want to do business in Estevan, I want to help you do it,” he said.

Next will be a co-work space where budding entrepreneurs can rent space or desks, giving them an area in which they’re surrounded by other aspiring entrepreneurs.

The third area is the business incubator, to take companies from early stages, even as early as a business idea, hopefully to the point where it becomes self-sufficient.

“We’ll be able to provide space, support, programs, advice and mentorship to new companies that are looking to get started and get off the ground,” said Taylor.

The number of entrepreneurs in the Launchbox will depend on the needs of the individuals. Taylor said they want to be flexible until they know the needs of the entrepreneurs going through the doors.

“Some of the programs and workshops that we offer will be open to anyone, and if we run over capacity for those, Affinity Credit Union has generously offered us a larger space if we have a lot of interest.”

He believes they have room for eight to 10 people to rent space, but they will likely start with just four rental spots until they can find out exactly what people want.

Taylor describes an incubator as an area where a business can get all of the support, mentorship and resources that it needs to grow

The Spectra Financial building will house Estevan’s new business incubator. Photo submitted

and sustain itself.

“It’s to help it through that first stage of growth,” said Taylor.

The Launchbox doesn’t have its first occupants yet. Taylor expects it will start as a business resource centre, but there seems to be a lot of interest from the community in the Launchbox concept.

He’s really excited to see what the people of Estevan can come up with for businesses and ideas, and what he can do to help.

The incubator was among the ideas put forward by the city for its business incentives program in August 2018. The project has received funding through the federal government’s Canada Coal Transition Initiative.

A relatively quiet week allowed the Estevan Fire Rescue Service to catch up on paperwork and also get ready for some needed controlled burns.

One call came in early Saturday. At about 2:30 a.m., the fire crews were dispatched to a report of a residential smoke alarm. The call came from the north-central area of Estevan. Once on scene, firefighters couldn’t see any smoke or flame from the exterior of the building.

“Once crews did make access to the single-family dwelling there they met with the homeowner. And an occupant had indicated that it was a cooking-related alarm,” said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.

Further investigation confirmed that the source of the smoke was a burned pizza in the oven.

There was not enough smoke for any ventilation efforts, so the scene was turned back to the homeowners.

The EFRS reminds the public that people should always monitor cooking and make sure that whatever they are making on the stove or in the oven doesn’t get away on them. Besides, the residents should be mindful of the notification procedures to prevent unnecessary firefighters’ activations.

“Please, ensure that notification procedures of your residential fire alarms are indeed to the homeowner first prior to the fire department, especially with smaller cooking-related issues,” said Feser.

There haven’t been any wildland fires in the area this season yet, but the firefighters are closely monitoring the situation.

They are also getting ready to conduct several prescribed burns this or the next week, depending on a few conditions.

“We have to take into consideration the available manpower, the weather conditions, the moisture content and the fire danger indexing and the vegetation here at the time. But the biggest thing is the wind conditions because once we start this, we obviously want to keep the smoke away from the residential occupancy areas as much as possible,” said Feser.

When decisions to conduct the burns are made, citizens will be notified via flyers and through social media.

Follow the Estevan Mercury website and Facebook page for up to date information on all Estevan’s latest news. Burned pizza resulted in fire crews’ activation

Theresa, Environmental Service Worker

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