New and improved
Could a new home make a Saint John organization a beehive of entrepreneurship?

THE Saint John Community Loan Fund is moving up in the world.

This summer, the organization reached its goal of raising the $2.3 million it needed to build a new home for itself, something it’s calling the Social Enterprise Hub. The building will be 15,000 square feet and have three floors. Seth Asimakos, the Fund’s general manager, says getting the facility built has been its dream since 2009. The Fund gets its capital from various investors and then uses that cash to provide loans to people in the community so they can start businesses, get back to work or obtain housing. Training in financial literacy, community leadership, enterprise development and youth entrepreneurship is also provided.

The Fund has been around since 1999 but it’s never had a home quite like this facility, which should be completed by April or May of 2016. “We’re hoping it will expand our ability to take risks and innovate,” Asimakos says. The facility will be built next to the Fund’s current location on Prince Edward Street. The first floor will house a social enterprise cafeteria and a cluster of micro-enterprises launched by the Fund. The Saint John Learning Exchange will occupy the second floor, training people to get their grade 12 diploma or gain workplace skills. The third floor will have nonprofit organizations like the Atlantic Coastal Action Centre as tenants.

By housing non-profits and small businesses in the same building, Asimakos expects a lot of brainstorming on how to create more businesses and social enterprises in Saint John. “It’s a neat mix of organizations,” Asimakos says. “I think we’ll come up with new ideas while we are in the space and that means more businesses started and more income and taxes generated here.”