Local business earns grant under insurance company’s national campaign

By Ron Giofu

An Amherstburg business is part of an insurance company’s national grant program and received $20,000.

Gumballs & Overalls was one of 150 recipients of a Desjardins “GoodSpark” grant, with the insurance firm awarding a total of $3 million under the program. Participants in the “GoodSpark” program have to be locally owned and operated, have a minimum of one employee and a maximum of 50 employees, have been registered for at least one year and have a project that tackles at least one subject among the topics of sustainable development, employment, innovation and community impact.

Tracy DeWaal, owner of Gumballs & Overalls, said the grant money is being used on a staff member to assist shoppers in shopping online. She said she received the grant application in her e-mail and decided to apply.

DeWaal said shopping online is a fast growing trend in retail, but the nature of the consignment business makes this a difficult challenge. She said each piece that comes into the shop is original and different from the next.

People got used to shopping online during the pandemic, and Gumballs & Overalls has done its best to keep up with the trend.

“Each piece needs to be inspected, added to the proper consignors’ inventory and priced based on a number of factors such as brand, quality and current inventory,” DeWaal stated. “This is an extremely time consuming, but necessary, process. Listing each individual item on an online platform, which would then need to be monitored, updated, then sold, item packed up and shipped out, would be way too costly system for us as a small business to have.”

DeWaal said they tapped into the online marketplace using their business page on Facebook. She pointed out they select items, post pictures and followers of the page comment on items they wish to purchase.

“To pay for these items, they may use their consignor account and call in with their credit card or send us an e-transfer,” said DeWaal. “Then the items go into our back room where they await pick up.”

That system has gained a following since it was implemented, she added, and Gumballs & Overalls is trying to keep up with the demand that Facebook sales have generated.

They were struggling to find enough time to post items online while still running the store. With the belief they could possibly double or triple sales, Gumballs & Overalls used the grant to hire Lisa Gall to assist with their social media.

DeWaal learned she was of the 150 Desjardins “GoodSpark” grant recipients through local agent Tim Matlock.

Matlock believes DeWaal has a good business model and said he was always impressed by her storefront whenever he came by. Noting DeWaal has spent 20 years in retail in Amherstburg, “that’s something to be proud of.” The “GoodSpark” grant winners are starting to be advertised nationally, he noted.

Seeing grant winners be in the private sector was something Matlock said he was pleased with, noting entrepreneurs are important and provide employment to many.

“I think this is terrific,” said Matlock. “These businesses don’t just pop up overnight. Entrepreneurs are important and I’m glad the money went into the private sector to allow them to expand.”

Matlock added he spoke with a client and they expressed how important Gumballs & Overalls was in helping them acquire clothing for their children.

Desjardins’ internal selection committee reviews all applications and selects the 150 grant recipients based on GoodSpark Grant selection criteria.

That includes the extent to which the small business meets all eligibility requirements, the degree to which the grant is deemed to have a compelling impact on the small business and the quality of the applicant’s written description of why they should receive a Grant and how it will be used.