The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-12-14, Page 1516 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, December 14, 2016
12 new BIA businesses in 2016 continues positive trend following 2011 tornado
Darryl Coote
Editor
Nine new businesses have
opened in Goderich's down-
town core this year with
another three looking to do
the same before 2017 rolls in,
and while this expansion is
"pretty astounding" it's also
nothing new, said the local
Business Investment Area
(BIA)'s manager.
"We've had a really good
run since 2012. That number
is not unusual," said Susan
Carradine -Armstrong of the
Goderich Downtown BIA
referring to the 12 new
businesses.
Four other businesses
have closed in the area, but
she said that it wasn't
because of the economic cli-
mate and that the business
owners were either retiring
or wanting to spend more
time with their families.
She said with some trepi-
dation that this positive
trend started following the
2011 tornado, which greatly
affected the downtown core.
The tornado inflicted over
$100 million in damages to
the town with many of the
buildings in the BIA needing
reconstruction.
However, the recovery
effort brought a change to
the town, both physically
and psychologically.
"So, before the tornado
the zeitgeist was we were
doing the same thing we'd
always done," she said
describing the business
nwmo
environment before the tor-
nado. "It's boring. nothing's
really working."
She said prior to that
August there were a lot of
vacant stores and second
floors because it was too
costly to bring them up to
code.
"The economy wasn't that
great. It just got stuck in a
rut. And along comes this
horrible wind and just blows
the bejesus out of every-
body," she said.
And along with the town,
its business sector rose like a
Phoenix from the ashes with
the relief effort because most
of the owners in the square
were local people and were
invested in Goderich and its
success, she said.
"It sort of woke everybody
up, I think," she said. "And
they realized this is their
business, they are not a
major chain, they are not a
national franchise and when
they reopened, it sort of
reenergized the downtown
core."
With the recovery efforts
came rebuilding, and with
rebuilding came new usea-
ble spaces from those previ-
ously uninhabitable, she
said.
And while the rebuilding
offered new possibilities
through new spaces, entre-
preneurs found the then
newly created BIA Farmer's
and Flea Markets as a prov-
ing ground for their ideas,
she said.
"It's like an incubator for
NUCLEAR WASTE SOCIETE DE GESTION
MANAGEMENT DES DECHETS
ORGANIZATION NUCLEAIRES
Susan carradine-Armstrong, manager of the Goderich BIA, points out the locations of the 12 new business her area.
small businesses," she said.
Three of the newly opened
shops — Cait's Cafe, Goder-
ich Makers Mercantile and
The Hamilton Street Cafe —
got their start on the
Goodrich square as a booth
during the market, which
runs from May through
October.
She said it allows entrepre-
neurs to wade into industry
NWMO Learn More Centre
Everyone is welcome.
Drop in and learn more about Adaptive Phased Management
(APM), and ongoing work in the area. APM is Canada's plan for
the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is
working collaboratively with Huron -Kinloss to consider the
project and advance preliminary assessment studies. The
Township of Huron -Kinloss is one of nine communities involved
in this learning process.
without putting in much risk.
They open a booth for $20 and
see if there is a market. If there
is, she said, local businesspeo-
ple tend to see a customer
base grow.
"It gives you the opportu-
nity to do it in a reasonable
way," she said.
This market idea was part
of a four-year strategic plan
to improve the BIA that
NWMO Learn More Centre (Huron -Kinloss)
46 Queen St., Ripley ON
(across from Lewis Park)
519.386.6711
Wednesdays
Thursdays
Fridays
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
ended this year. Carradine -
Armstrong said that plan
sought to bring business to
the area that local residents
felt the area was lacking,
such as a specialty coffee
shop, a sushi restaurant (one
of which is planning to open
this month) and a children's
store.
She said the BIA "hit all
the marks" it had set out for
itself.
Going forward, she said
the BIA board will be shortly
deciding the goals for the
next several years, one of
which will be trying to attract
more speciality cuisine to
the area, specifically an
Darryl Coote/Editor
Indian restaurant.
"So it's back to the draw-
ing board for us. It's big
because, sure we have our
projects set out and our
budgets set out, but as far as
a strategic plan they're going
to start working on it in Janu-
ary," she said.
And she is "excited" to see
what new, fresh ideas the
board can come up with to
aid the economic develop-
ment of Goderich's down-
town core.
"I think it is an opportu-
nity to look at what we are
doing and just really go out
on a limb and just do some
new ideas," she said.
Business Statistics
for the Goderich BIA
2011
9 new businesses opened in
the BIA
1 relocated within Goderich
3 relocated outside of
Goderich
3 temporarily closed
7 closed following tornado
143 reopened at original local
9 reopened in new location
2012
14 new businesses opened
in the BIA
2013
12 new businesses opened
in the BIA
2014
2 new businesses opened in
the BIA
7 closed
1 relocated
2015
8 new businesses opened in
the BIA
1 closed
6 relocated
2016
12 new businesses opened
in the BIA
4 closed
3 business expanded