Small Business Owner? Important Meeting 2pm Feb 22 2013!

BIA? Chamber of Commerce? Which Organization Suits Your Community?

Interested in enhancing the economic environment in the City of Kawartha Lakes? You are invited to a meeting at Fenelon Falls Community Centre from 2-4pm, Friday February 22. 2013 for the purpose of identifying the various types of business organization that might best fit your community.Will the model previously known as the Omemee Business and Community Improvement Association be discussed? Good question. The facilitator originally scheduled for the Omemee Committee of Council Meeting on BIA's will be presenting at this meeting.

Lance Sherk, MSc. Director, Economic Development City of Kawartha Lakes issued the following letter which was forwarded to Omemee Pigeon at 2pm yesterday. No record of the original time of the press release was included.

 Subject: BIA's, Merchant Associations, Business Organizations, etc. - Invitation from Lance Sherk, Director of Economic Development

 Economic Development's core client group in Kawartha Lakes are our business owners, business organizations such as the Tourism (RTO8 & Tourism Association), Agriculture (VHFA & ADAB, among many other livestock and crop associations), manufacturing sector (KMA), Chambers of Commerce and BIA's, Heritage, Arts and Culture groups, our newly formed Business Committees of Council as well as other partners engaged in Community and Economic Development throughout Kawartha Lakes.

As part of the department's annual workplan, the Economic Development office has been working with Committees of Council for the purpose of identifying the various types of business organization that might best fit their community, as well as working on a Business Retention and Expansion project in Fenelon Falls over the past 18 months.The department has also been representing the City of Kawartha Lakes as a key stakeholder on the Steering Committee and project exploring the establishment of an umbrella business organization for the City of Kawartha Lakes (this project has become known as the Board of Trade initiative).

We are currently hosting different focus groups around the City on the role of BIA's in communities. There was a meeting scheduled for Tuesday in Omemee that was focused on BIA's. Unfortunately, that had to be rescheduled to March 19th as a result of the weather. 

As the host for the Friday meeting of the Board of Trade initiative, we felt that it was important to take advantage of the Facilitator that we have engaged for this event and host a meeting to discuss not only BIA's and other . Consequently, rather than lose the day and opportunity to continue the work we are engaged in, we would like to extend an invitation to all of you who have made arrangements to attend Friday's meeting to attend at this same location and time to discuss additional aspects of business organization development in Kawartha Lakes.

We will spend some time today with the Facilitator, George Schriver, to develop an agenda and have it sent out today.

For those who have not been engaged in previous meetings with regard to business organizations that Economic Development have hosted we will also provide some ideas for discussion a little later today for tomorrow's meeting. 

Please feel free to bring or invite your friends and business associates who have an interest in enhancing the economic environment in the City of Kawartha Lakes. 

Time: 2:00 - 4:00 

Place: Fenelon Falls Community Centre 

Date: Friday, February 22, 2013 

Please RSVP (ecdev@city.kawarthalakes.on.ca) , or at 705-324-9411 Ext. 1232, so that we can be sure we have sufficient seating and coffee!  

Lance Sherk, MSc. Director, Economic Development 

 Connect With Omemee on Twitter  Follow us through Networked Blogs