Saint John social enterprise hub aims to reduce poverty

The final push is being made to fund a 15,000 square foot social enterprise hub in uptown Saint John.

The idea behind the new building is that it will house organizations and micro entrepreneurs in the city which aim to reduce poverty.

The building will be located at 139 Prince Edward Street.

Working together would bring more results, says Saint John community loan fund manager Seth Asimakos.

"We all work together in the area of poverty reduction in an entrepreneurial way. Hopefully, more ideas will germinate faster and with greater quality when we're all together in the same building," he said.

The social enterprise hub will house the Community Loan Fund, the Saint John Human Development Council, the Saint John Learning Exchange and the Ponde Deshpande Centre. The building will also be home to several entrepreneurs.

Asimakos says they will be aggressively campaigning over the next 40 days to raise the rest of the money needed for the capital cost of the $2.25 million building.

Wanted: more tenants

The hub is also looking for a few more tenants.

"We need more entrepreneurs, we need more innovation in New Brunswick, we need it in Saint John. So if we can put another asset in this community, in this specific neighbourhood, the Waterloo Village, that would be great. Then the next thing this does is that it leverages new innovation," said Asimakos.

He says it is hoped that construction of the hub could begin this spring.