RAPIDS links businesses in Sault with investors.

• Author: Clark, Pauline
• Position: Sault Ste. Marie - Brief Article

Area businesses unable to access traditional funding sources for growth opportunities have been able to take advantage of the services of a community investment pro gram for the past few years in the Sault.

That program is the RAPIDS Community Investments Inc., not a funding source, but rather a group whose aim is to act as a facilitator to bring businesses seeking funding together with investors.

"We don't have money, but we look for it and try to match investors with local small businesses seeking funding," explains Lee-Anne Nicholson, special projects officer for RAPIDS.

That is in keeping with their mission is to assist businesses to grow through programs and services that focus on accessing capital, and that is what makes the company different from both the economic development corporation and the community development corporation.

RAPIDS is focused only on educating about funding and linking to funding.

"Many clients aren't investment-ready or educated enough about their growth plans and about funding," says Nicholson, whose job is to evaluate those clients and decide how to proceed.

This process usually takes about six months and can include assistance in business plan creation as well as finding some funding options in the form of non-traditional private venture capital.

Although Nicholson says they occasionally get clients that are just starting up, 90 per cent of them are businesses that already exist and almost all...