Huron Expositor, 2015-07-01, Page 22 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Cotton Harvest Quilt Shop winner of Huron East's "Win the Space"
Carolyn Parks Mintz
Special to the Expositor
An innovative initiative has
proven to be a win- win-win for
Huron East, for Huron County and
definitely for rural small businesses
in the area.
The recent finale evening of Win
This Space was overflowing with
energy, optimism and excitement
as five finalists vied to earn the
$18,000 grand prize of storefront
space and business consultation
for a year, online marketing, lead-
ership training, advertising graph-
ics, and communication
assistance.
Win this Space was adapted from
a similar program in Uxbridge,
Ontario.
It was implemented and sup-
ported by the Municipality of
Huron East under the direction of
Economic Development Officer
Jan Hawley, along with the finan-
cial, in-kind and moral support of
many partners, who jumped on
board to bring this unique project
to fruition:
• County of Huron
• Seaforth and Brussels Commu-
nity Development Trusts
• Seaforth BIA
• Edifice Atelier & Rediscovering
Canada Television
• Huron Business Development
Corporation
• Small Business Enterprise
Centre
• Artech Signs & Graphics
• Precision Print Inc.
• Tuckersmith Communications
• Custom Embroidery N'Sew On
• The Edge of Walton Challenge
Course
"The momentum the project
gained as it progressed was amaz-
ing," reports EDO Hawley. "I was
looking for ten entries. Then there
were 15, which grew to 28, surpass-
ing all my expectations. Of these, 24
took the training program from
which 12 solid business plans were
submitted and accepted. I was
speechless— which is quite some-
thing, coming from me."
An important part of Win This
Space was the business educa-
tion provided by Alison Lobb of
the Small Business Enterprise
Centre. Since the contest was
announced in March, five new
businesses either opened, or
announced they will starting -up
later this year. Three were
directly influenced by the Win
This Space initiative, of which
two continued on with the busi-
ness training even after opening
their own business.
The five finalists who made their
enthusiastic pitches to the judges
during the finale were
• Cotton Harvest Quilt Shop
(Trina 0' Rourke) where quilters
are invited to indulge their creativ-
ity among beautiful fabrics, stun-
ning quilts and antiques
• Degree Fitness (Kaleda Con-
nell), an all-inclusive fitness facility
featuring functional training
GRADUATION
Claire Marie Jane Milton
Anne and Ralph Milton are happy to announce
the graduation of their daughter Claire Milton
(granddaughter of the late Clarissa Stewart).
She graduated from the University of Guelph
at the Summer Convocation on
June 10, 2015. She received an Honours
Bachelor of Applied Science degree with a
major in Child, Youth and Family and a minor
in French. She will be continuing her studies
in the fall at Westem University in the
Bachelor of Education program.
Congratulations Claire!
We are all so proud of you.
Love Mom, Dad, Paul and Marc
• Grounded Cafe (Brittany Wil-
liams), a coffee house cafe/bistro
serving gourmet coffees and
pastries
• Local ArtScape (Gerrie Huen-
emoerder), a gallery featuring cus-
tom Avelina jewelry as well as
crafts and arts by Canadian artists
and designers
• Local Organics Health Food &
Wellness Centre (Tara Finnigan &
Cara Wicke) providing highest
quality fresh and natural food,
products and nutritional
services as well as educational
workshops.
Judges Alison Lobb, Paul Nichol,
Cathy Elliott, Brenda Campbell,
Chris Lee, Neil Tam, Maureen Agar
and Jan Hawley had the unenvi-
able, but happy task of choosing
the grand prize winner— Cotton
Harvest Quilt Shop and entrepre-
neur Trina O'Rourke.
"This means the realization of a
dream I've had for 15 years," says a
smiling O'Rourke. "It will take a
while to sink in that it's actually
going to happen. The classes were
fun and developing the business
plan was a challenge, but I am so
happy that I will be able to bring
quilting excellence to local quilt
artists!'
In addition to their Win This
Space training, the four runners-up
will benefit from further mentoring
and business plan review through
the Huron Business Development
Corporation, as announced by
HBDC Manager Jim Niesen.
Another seven bright ideas and
business plans had been submitted
for consideration by LeeAnn
Becker (LeeAnn's Crafts, Giftware
& More), Ashley Giles (A to G
Music), Gail Hendrickson (Rain-
bow Pet Supplies), Valerie Kram-
berger (Purple Poodle w. Puppies),
Steph Moffat (Picture This Photog-
raphy), Stephanie Monk (Lash
Envy) and Kriston Zandwyk (Tiny
Roots).
Those enjoying the very well -
attended event held at the Seaforth
Golf Club included MP Ben Lobb,
MPP Lisa Thompson, Huron
County Warden Paul Gowing,
Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLel-
lan, and several municipal repre-
sentatives from Huron East and
Central Huron Councils—all of
whom had nothing but praise for
Win This Space.
"I give a lot of credit to Huron
County, Huron East Council and
staff for initiating this and for spur-
ring on entrepreneurs and small
business owners," said MP Lobb.
"It's a great example for others to
take hold of."
MPP Thompson commented
that the innovative nature of Win
This Space was particularly signifi-
cant. "The measure of its success
was the interest it generated as well
as the number of entries, she adds.
"The partnerships that came
together created excellent
synergy."
"Hats off to all involved!" said
Warden Gowing. "Successful grass
roots economic development has
clearly been demonstrated here
tonight. Huron East has taken
innovation from invention to
industry:'
Mayor MacLellan stated
emphatically, "This wasn't win this
space. It was earn this space. There
was no free ride involved in the
process.
Congratulations to all who took
part. And through the project, the
municipality and the county are
being recognized right across the
Province of Ontario."
The initiative certainly lived up
to its advance publicity: "The
Municipality of Huron East's Eco-
nomic Development Department
wants to inspire you to become an
entrepreneur and is willing to offer
business and financial support to
help you catch the spirit of our
communities and build your
future:'
Win This Space and all it offered
attracted entrants from as far away
as Middlesex, Perth and Bruce
Counties.
"The program works," reports
EDO Hawley. "With dedicated
effort and the right team, other
communities can pull it off too.
Ottawa, St. Catharines, Cobourg
and Pt. Elgin have already been in
touch. We're glad to help. Whether
inside or outside Ontario, it's all
about business and in particular,
business in rural areas."
Commendable! Nailed that
horse race.
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