For Our Members
Members of our CID (officially BID –business improvement district) are businesses and organizations located within the properties of our boundaries. As a member of the Village on Main, they are eligible for a number of services and can use the association to express concerns or ideas for community development and improvement. Some opportunities available to member or businesses include, but are not limited to:
- Marketing & Promotions
- Grants, Membership Offers, Discounts, Subsidies & Group Rates
- Advocacy
- Resources
Marketing and Promotions
Social Media
Our members can take advantage of our social media presence @VillageOnMainNS. We have over 5000 followers, and encourage you to “like” and follow us as well as send us information and news to promote about their business or organization. We also offer a complimentary mentoring meeting with Marketing Coordinator to help them with their social media.
Placement in our Online Business Directory
Our Members are included in our online directory (villageonmain.ca) on our website.
Village Vouchers
We offer $5 and $10 vouchers toward participating member businesses as door prizes and gifts for special events. When redeemed, we reimburse member businesses.
Events
We host a signature event each year, an Open House – Scavenger Hunt. All members are invited to participate.
We hold a yearly Community Clean Up in June and invite you to participate with your team for a great photo-promotional opportunity as we work together to maintain a clean community.
Our Annual General Meeting is held every year in June and you are invited to join us for lunch and hear about our progress and news.
We host an annual Holiday Social event on the third Wednesday afternoon in December for our members to get to know us and one another.
Networking at your Location
Member have the opportunity to showcase their business/organization by hosting our public networking event in their location. We splash the event over social media before and after the event for further promotion. Our networking events are held on the third Wed. of each month from 8:30-9:30am and held at a different (member business) location in the Village on Main.
Grants, Membership Offers, Discounts, Subsidies & Group Rates
We partner with organizations and our members to offer discount rates and subsidies. Past grants included offering subsidies for security webcams, digital marketing and façade improvements. More recently we offered a subsidy on 360 virtual tour for your website in partnership with one of our members, Real Imaging. And most recently, we have partnered with Acadia Broadcasting, (103.5 Hot Country ) to offer a subsidy on a joint radio campaign.
Graffiti Removal
We provide complimentary graffiti removal for our members.
Advocacy
On behalf of our members, we work with partners to make improvements to our district and to address issues that can directly affect our members. We have partnered with the city to make changes to our land use bylaws to allow for mixed use development that will bring more residents into the area. Other issues
We also work with an HRM-wide coalition of community partners to address such concerns as better transit, tax reform, homelessness, and other issues.
Resources
Member businesses are added to our email and newsletter list and receive updates on community news, our progress on projects and resources, business-training opportunities, among other business resource information, events and opportunities.
Age Friendly Community Plan
We have the only Age Friendly Community Plan in HRM! It was developed by a steering committee of community, business and non-profit members guiding our plan to promote and encourage the transformation of a community that welcomes people of all ages and abilities.
Accessibility Planning
In 2017, the Nova Scotia government passed the Accessibility Act to cultivate a more equitable and barrier-free province for all Nova Scotians. The Act recognizes accessibility as a human right and sets a goal of an accessible Nova Scotia by 2030. The legislation outlines what we need to do as a province to improve accessibility and ensure that every Nova Scotian can participate in our society. The Accessibility act has designed its definition and standards of accessibility through public consultation with persons with disabilities and community organizations
We have put together a document that provides a Checklist for Businesses for fostering an accessible space and will provide guidance for funding opportunities for businesses who wish to become more accessible.
