A Guelph small business is one of 150 businesses receiving $20,000 from Desjardins Insurance.
Gilded Cage Boutique is a luxury, ethical, and sustainably sourced boutique located in Downtown Guelph. It is the recipient of this year’s Desjardins Good Spark Grant, a program offering $3 million to businesses across Canada demonstrating leadership in innovation, investments in employees or sustainability efforts.
A release from Gilded Cage Boutique said it received the $20,000 for demonstrating community leadership in innovation and sustainable development.
Gilded Cage supports makers and artists from around the globe by providing reliable employment for themselves and their families, while also protecting the environment by up-cycling materials.
“The paramount goal at Gilded Cage is to provide luxurious, sustainable, stunning products to customers without sacrificing the lives of the makers who create them. We want to show consumers they really can make a world of difference by choosing what they buy,” said Smith in the release.
Since receiving the grant, the release mentions some of the money has been used to purchase ethically and sustainably made products from other small businesses that were hardest hit during the pandemic.
Smith adds she also plans to create an initiative to assist BIPOC and female entrepreneurs get their own businesses off the ground.
“We can’t wait to pay it forward and support those hardest hit in this pandemic.”