In the news: New McMaster program offers help to older rural entrepreneurs

September 25, 2024 ·

Contributed by: Richard Leitner, Hamilton Spectator

A senior woman wearing glasses sits at a table, diligently working on her laptop.

Older residents living in rural areas of Hamilton who’d like to start a business, but aren’t sure how, are being offered a helping hand from an online McMaster University venture that tries to make entrepreneurship available to everyone.

A joint initiative between Mac’s Reframery virtual business incubator and Flamborough Connects, the senior entrepreneur training program, is accepting applicants for access to free online sessions, educational materials and mentors.

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Javid Nafari, a doctoral candidate at McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business and the Reframery’s chief operations officer, said the virtual incubator began in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It initially worked with immigrant women in the service industry who were left behind when everything moved online, starting with programs in Canada, the United States and Brazil before branching out elsewhere, including Kenya and Poland.

The Reframery has also run programs for people with disabilities and Hamilton’s YWCA, and works with nongovernmental organizations like Flamborough Connects because they know their communities’ needs best, Nafari said.

Along with training, it can provide a computer tablet or smartphone to participants who can’t afford one, he added.

“Most of the incubators you see, they are focused on high-growth firms, venture capital. They’re looking to find unicorn firms and firms that can grow really fast,” Nafari said. “Ours is mostly — and I can say exclusively — focused on people who are marginalized and people who don’t have access.”

Read the full article in the Hamilton Spectator.