by Emily Glimco, Communications & Marketing Coordinator, August 2022
We interviewed Business Services Specialist Lesley Cyrier about her work supporting local businesses!
How do you work with Addison businesses?
My job is to connect our business owners and entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to help them grow their business in Addison. That’s everything from access to a library card, databases, items in the Library of Things, and opportunities to come together. I also help connect business owners to other community resources like the services the Village of Addison has to offer.
What’s something that surprises business owners when you share library resources that are available to them?
Everyone is always amazed at the Library of Things! Our business owners have really appreciated having access to hotspots, projectors, and laptops. The Creative Studio is a nice surprise when business owners find out they can do large format printing at the library for a lower cost than printing at a big box store. Databases are a real hit, too. With a library card, you can access our databases to do things you’d normally have to pay to do, like run a market analysis.
What are some online tools all business owners should explore with their library card?
ReferenceSolutions can be used to create targeted marketing lists and look at who is in your community or what other businesses exist, which can be useful if you want to open a new business. You can see if Addison is already saturated with the kind of business you want to open, or if there is a strong opportunity for you to bring in something new.
Business owners also love our training resources, Udemy and Gale Courses. Some of the most popular courses are topics like how to market your business and how to use social media to promote your business online. While some business owners will use these resources for personal professional development, some will share our training tools with their staff as well.
One last resource to mention is Press Reader, which you can use to read the business newspapers without a subscription. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what’s going on in your industry.
Anything else you'd like to share?
The library is supported by local property taxes, and with our thriving commercial and industrial sector, a lot of that support comes from the business community. Thank you to all the Addison businesses who make our work possible!