NEOnet moves to a downtown Timmins location to better connect with business owners

NEOnet has moved to a downtown Timmins location so that it can connect better with business owners.

The government-funded, not-for-profit organization held a grand reopening at 85 Pine St. South and Downtown Timmins laid out the welcome mat.

NEOnet officials said they look forward to meeting with business owners to help them apply for grants to buy internet services or to help them increase their online presence.

“There’s new, better technology; there’s new cyber security measures that can be put into place to help your business or to even help your own personal finances," said Marie-Josee Filo, interim executive director of NEOnet.

"We’re here to help. We’re here to demystify all that information and we’re here to support everybody in the community."

NEOnet also advocates on behalf of the region to ensure it sees an improvement in telecommunications infrastructure. Officials said it is maddening to have good cell and internet service in Timmins, and then to encounter none just 15 minutes outside of the city.

“In today’s day and age, when you’re expecting folks, businesses, individuals to be connected, to make the resources of the internet available to them and you can’t that’s a huge gap," said David Laneville, chair of the NEOnet board of directors.

"(It's) something that we’re going to be working at trying to fill."

Aside from helping business with digital transformations, NEOnet will also be hosting educational sessions such as one coming up soon at the Timmins Public Library on cyber security.