Peterborough Blogs
Winner of First Holiday Shopping Passport Early Bird Draw Announced
/Tony Jeffery has won a $500 Boro gift card from the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) first Holiday Shopping Passport early bird draw, announced on Monday.
Holiday Shopping Passport Early Bird winner Tony Jeffery (left) celebrating his win at Gentry Apparel with store owner Andrew Damiany (right). Photo courtesy of the Peterborough DBIA.
Jeffery’s winning passport was drawn at the Peterborough DBIA office on Wednesday.
“I’ve been filling out holiday shopping passports for a long time as I lived and worked downtown for many years. It feels so nice to win after being a long-term stamp collector,” said Jeffery. “Our downtown is so dynamic. It has always had so many unique shops, restaurants, and cafes with new places to discover all the time – not to mention it’s the perfect size for getting around. I’m so excited to win and treat my wife to a nice dinner and cross some more items off my shopping checklist.”
During the Holiday Passport season, shoppers receive a stamp for every $10 spent participating downtown business. After 20 stamps, passport holders can complete the contact form on it and drop it off at participating businesses to be entered into the draw.
They are available at over 140 participating shops, boutiques, salons, restaurants, and cafes downtown for free. Each completed Holiday Shopping Passport entered them into a ballot to win $1,500 in Boro gift cards.
The following early bird draw for a $500 Boro gift card occurs on Wednesday.
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StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Proswing Golf Simulators, Kawartha Golf and Country Club, Premier’s Awards and The Boro
/PTBOCanada is delighted to be running StoosNews columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…
Dylan Purves recently opened a new business called Proswing Golf Simulators. Located at 401 McDonnel St. in Peterborough.
Purves describes it as a state-of-the-art facility boasting Trackman technology, allowing you to virtually play several world-renowned golf courses including Pebble Beach and Augusta. You can book an hour to come in to improve your game, pull together a foursome and play a round, or host a birthday party or event. For details visit proswing.ca.
Lots of changes coming to Kawartha Golf and Country Club.
Blake Ulrich was recently named as the new Head Professional. Blake was born and raised in Peterborough and was a junior member at Kawartha for 10 years. He replaces Mark Ahrens. Meanwhile, the Clubhouse will be torn down this winter to be replaced with a new 6,000-square-foot clubhouse, opening in Spring 2025. The new building will feature an expanded outdoor terrace, change facilities and lockers, a lounge, dining room, kitchen, a meeting room and administrative offices.
The annual Premier’s Awards recognize exceptionally talented Colleges Grads.
This year there are six Fleming College nominees, including Dylan Trepanier in Business, Heather George in Community Services, Rochelle Byrne, in Creative Arts and Design, Vanessa Raaymakers for Health Sciences, Naman Khandelwal, a recent graduate in Global Business Management and Evan Hall, in Technology.
As you go about your Holiday Shopping this year, remember to check out all of the wonderful local shops and services here in the Kawarthas.
The Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce have their annual Hometown Holiday directory, with gift ideas and a new daily deal in their online advent calendar. Pkchamber.ca. Downtown Peterborough has theBoro.ca, and the many towns and villages in the Kawarthas have wonderful locally-owned shops to explore. Remember, you can keep your town in business by keeping your business in town.
'Quest It' Mobile App Creator Takes Grand Prize In Innovation Cluster's 'Cubs' Lair' Entrepreneurial Competition
/Hadi Jakmora’s mobile app ‘Quest It’ took home first place at the Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas’s ‘Cubs' Lair’ entrepreneurial competition held at Erben on Thursday.
Winner Hadi Jakmora (middle left) with his grand prize after winning the Cubs’ Lair competition. Photo courtesy of Innovation Cluster Peterborough.
Jakmore took home the grand prize of $3,000, for his app, designed for everyday task assistance, facilitating local services from snow removal to meal preparation.
Matt Anderson clinched second place and a $1,500 award for Chemong City Greens, an enterprise cultivating organic microgreens. Its nutrient-rich produce enhances meals year-round, enriching Peterborough's local food network.
Nicholas Landon secured third place and a $500 prize for Course Sync Inc., an innovative platform revolutionizing student academic management.
Other participants included:
Zachary McCue of REPWR
Ashley Bonner of Community Pin
Yash Ramnani of Nectar
Jayden Smith of Cub Storage Inc
Judges for the event were Marcelo Sarkis of Prima IP, Jade Calver of Calver Immigration Consulting Inc. and Jason Fiorotto, a seasoned B2B marketing strategist.
“The Innovation Cluster extends heartfelt congratulations to all Cubs' Lair 2023 participants for their remarkable creativity and dedication,” according to a press release statement. “We eagerly anticipate the future success of these entrepreneurs in Peterborough and beyond as they continue to shape the landscape of innovation.”
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Voice of Business: Supporting Stronger Indigenous Economic Outcomes
/We need to do better when it comes to economic reconciliation.
Economic reconciliation is so much more than a moral imperative — the cost of inaction is holding us back culturally and economically.
There’s a new policy paper from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) called Sharing Prosperity: An Introduction to Building Relationships for Economic Reconciliation in Ontario. It’s an introductory resource as part of the Economic Reconciliation Initiative, a partnership between both organizations aimed at advancing economic reconciliation by building business capacity to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 92.
It's key to appreciate that reports like this are a starting place. It provides some of the resources to build relationships and move us in the right direction. To get there, it helps give historical context, provides insights on Indigenous rights, highlights challenges facing Indigenous businesses, and provides meaningful opportunities for engagement.
The report describes an Indigenous economy that is both strong and growing with Indigenous businesses contributing nearly $50 billion annual to Canada’s GDP. There are more than 75,000 Indigenous-owned businesses and entrepreneurs in Canada.
Some of the key actions that businesses can take include:
Advancing Indigenous cultural awareness and education by sharing territorial acknowledgements, distributing educational reconciliation resources to staff, providing Indigenous cultural competency training, and attending/participating in Indigenous events.
Promoting equitable Indigenous employment and business opportunities by providing reduced rates/complimentary access to events, memberships, and training for Indigenous businesses/individuals, implementing inclusive Human Resource strategies to recruit and retain Indigenous candidates, auditing workplace policies and procedures to promote reconciliation, linking executive compensation to economic reconciliation performance metrics, and convening an Indigenous Advisory Committee.
Engaging with Indigenous communities and supporting economic development by making Indigenous community investments, developing Indigenous partnership-building and engagement strategies, implementing Indigenous procurement policies, obtaining certification/accreditation in Indigenous relations, developing a Reconciliation Action Plan, and entering into revenue- or equity-sharing agreements with Indigenous businesses and/or communities.
Diversity, equity and inclusion as well as environmental, social and governance goals are becoming a bigger priority for many businesses and organizations. While connected to both of those approaches, economic reconciliation puts a focus on efforts to recognize the unique, inherent, ancestral, and customary responsibilities of Indigenous Peoples.
Reports like Sharing Prosperity help outline what businesses and organizations of all sizes can do to support stronger Indigenous economic outcomes.
As stated by the OCC Board of Directors: “It is critical to underscore that reconciliation is not about ‘checking a box’ but rather committing to a continual process of learning and action.”
Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.
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Photos: The Chocolate Rabbit Makes Its Grand Opening of Third Location In East City
/The Chocolate Rabbit has opened its third location in Peterborough with its grand opening in East City on Saturday.
Several people and dignitaries including Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferrari and Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith were in attendance for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Free samples, coupons (with purchase of times) and raffles for gift baskets were available at the event.
Customers could meet the Webster family who owns the business, who purchased the business from Lois and Larry MacEachern in August of 2021.
“We have been left speechless with the amount of turnout and support that the community has provided us today,” said Kristine Webster of The Chocolate Rabbit. “All in all, we had a wonderful experience and are so happy to have met and connected with each and every one of you.”
The other locations are in Lakefield and Bancroft and are also owned by the Webster family.
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StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Nóstimo by the Original Greek and PKED
/PTBOCanada is delighted to be running StoosNews columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…
George Anagnostou and Shannon Leclair opened Nóstimo by the Original Greek two and a half years ago for catering and takeout.
Located at 184 Marina Blvd. in the Northcrest Plaza, the business partners recently added two dining rooms and a new menu. Leclair, a Red Seal Chef, has designed a Greek-Mediterranean style menu and George, a certified Sommelier, handles the wine pairings.
They are open for business and taking reservations for the holiday season. Just call 705-991-3747 for reservations for either lunch or dinner, including group and business functions or visit nostimobytheoriginalgreek.com.
Photo by David Tuan Bui.
