Wingham Business Improvement Area

On Thursday, Feb. 20/25, the Wingham Business Improvement Area (BIA) held their 2025 Annual General Meeting in the lounge at the Wingham Columbus Centre.

Chair Dave Tiffin called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Tiffin reviewed the minutes of the 2024 AGM which were passed without change. Tiffin then gave a report of BIA activities in 2024. Doug Kuyvenhoven presented a slide show of work done by the Curb Appeal subcommittee of the BIA. This report can be viewed below.

The Treasurer presented the 2024 financial statements which were passed and then moved on to the proposed budget for 2025. The budget was passed, without change, after a few questions were answered.

North Huron Council rep to the BIA, Mitch Wright, then gave an update from Council. Chair Tiffin then outlined the goals of the Wingham BIA for 2025, which is available below.

The BIA awards certificates for certain achievements annually. This year recipients of the Civic Improvement certificate were Stapleton Interiors for accessibility work done on their business entrance, and to Frosty Queen for the upgrades done on their facade. Two new businesses in 2024 were also recognized – The Candy Corner and I Want That Bag. Finally, the volunteer of the year went to Joe & Heidi Carter for their work on leading the 2024 Homecoming event and for also taking on the leadership of the Festival of Lanterns event held each October.

==================================

Wingham BIA Completed Initiatives of 2024

1. The Curb Appeal subcommittee under direction of Doug Kuyvenhoven performed the usual maintenance along Josephine St of clearing weeds and painting touch ups on a regular basis.
   1. Major project was the painting of the fire hydrants, not only on Josephine St, but townwide.  We have a terrific group of volunteers.
   1. Looked after ordering and installing the flower boxes at businesses along Josephine St.
2. Refurbished the 2 Welcome to Wingham signs at each end of town.
3. Transformed Wingham BIA Bucks into an online purchasing format.  Continue to work with Libro on distribution and redemption of coupons and the new process is working well.
   • Program has been very successful and keeps shopping dollars in Wingham.
     • Have had other communities show interest into how our program works.
4. We continue to see ongoing demand for postings on the LED sign by Tim Hortons.  Have also had requests from other centres as to how this project was planned and completed.
5. Chair and Treasurer attended the Ontario BIA conference in Mississauga in April.
   • We don’t attend every year, but a good resource periodically.
6. Assisted the Alice Munro Library financially with a display case honouring Ms. Munro’s achievements. 
7. The new benches along Josephine St. were installed early in the year.  Very positive feedback received.
8. Proposed to Council in 2023 that the section of the park between Patrick and John St by the splashpad be renamed Vance Park in honour of Leland and Thora Vance for their generous, ongoing donation to the town. 
   1. Although not in the BIA core we feel the Vance’s should be recognized for their contribution to the business community and Wingham overall
   . This is a work in progress determining signage etc.
9. Continued to support the Lions Club Santa Claus parade by paying the insurance costs and bringing in the Seaforth marching band.  Also paid insurance for July 1^st fireworks.
10. We had hoped to have oversight of the Town Hall Theatre, and promote Wingham, but that has gone a different direction and a 3^rd party agreement is still in process.
11. Our plan for video surveillance along Josephine St was not met with open arms by some senior town staff, but is still in the works.

     In closing I’d like to thank the Board for their work throughout the year.  Wingham BIA Board is totally volunteer with no paid staff.  We are in the approximate 10% of Ontario BIAs that are all volunteer.

===================================

Wingham BIA 2025 Goals

• Installation of hydro and banner holders on poles north of the train station.  This will allow for hanging of Christmas lights and banners to the north end of the BIA area.
• Continue the scheduled roundtable calls with other HC BIAs and HC Ec Dev for information sharing.  Also attend OBIAA zoom calls on Tuesdays when possible.
  • OBIAA calls have been good source of information
  • Will keep notices of programs and training on the BIA FB page.
• Curb appeal projects will be ongoing under direction of Doug Kuyvenhoven
• Continue work with staff on installing video surveillance cameras.
• Work with municipality on efficient charging stations for Wingham in a beneficial location.
• Hope to work closely with Theatre 3^rd party manager to see more quality shows at the theatre, bringing people from out of town to our business area.
  • Ties in with plans to increase tourism locally.
• Want to see more initiatives on promoting Wingham as a tourist stop through Theatre performances, Driftscape software application, efficient charging stations.

Wingham BIA Bucks (formerly Community Cash) can now be purchased online

Any business or individual can purchase BIA Bucks. Each booklet contains $200 of BIA Bucks in a mix of $20s and $10s. BIA Bucks are great for gift certificates as they aren’t limited to any particular store or business.

To purchase booklet(s) of BIA Bucks a person or business simply needs to go to https://winghambia.ca/bia-bucks/ and fill in and submit the order form on that page.

They will receive a confirmation email instructing them to pay for their BIA Bucks order by sending an eTransfer to biabucks@winghambia.ca

Once payment has been made, they will receive an email instructing them to pick up their BIA Bucks at the Libro Credit Union in Wingham.

The receptionist at the Libro Credit Union will ask the individual picking up the BIA Bucks to provide a photo ID and once confirmed will give them the booklet(s) of BIA Bucks that they purchased.

The BIA Bucks program is great for local businesses. There was over $14,000 of BIA Bucks purchased in 2023. That $14,000 can only be spent in Wingham with BIA member businesses thereby driving business to your doors.

Feel free to email chair@winghambia.ca if you have any questions about the BIA Bucks program.

The Leland and Thora Vance Fund, held at Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF), is open for applications and will close on September 30, 2024 at 9am EST. Approximately $220,000 will be distributed this year to support capital projects at eligible organizations that are located in and serve Wingham residents. This is for recreation and christian churches. The education and medical portions have been allocated.

Information to assist you in your application is located here – https://www.wrcf.ca/vancefund (Including PDF’s of the Funding Guidelines, Application, Evaluation form, and a sample budget template you can use.)

Many of the questions are like the ones we’ve answered in previous years, so if you’ve applied before and would like a PDF copy of your application – we would be happy to provide it to make the process a bit easier for you.

If you want to discuss a potential project/initiative, or need any support in applying – please feel free to reach out to me via email blessing@wrcf.ca phone number below, and I would be happy to assist you.

Blessing Akpan
Director, Community Impact
Waterloo Region Community Foundation
(519) 725-1806 x 206

The Wingham Homecoming is rapidly approaching. The final schedule of events are now available here in PDF format and can be downloaded or printed. Downloading is recommended rather than Preview.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Homecoming 2024.

One of the Wingham BIA projects for 2024 is the setup of internet wifi connectivity along the main business core of Josephine St. This was passed at the Annual General Meeting in February 2024.

Reasoning for this is to make internet access quick and easy for visitors to Wingham who want to see what the town has to offer – businesses, restaurants, historical sites, things to do. Some plans are still in their infancy, but the hardware is being tested.

Some concerns have been raised about people sitting along Josephine St and staying on free wifi all day, possibly tying up parking spots. The BIA Board is planning on restricting the internet access so that things like streaming videos won’t be allowed. Time restrictions online will also be implemented. As for parking, if a vehicle is habitually taking up a parking spot, contact Wingham Town Hall and submit a complaint through their website at https://www.northhuron.ca/en/municipal-government/report-a-concern.aspx

The article below is posted with the permission of the Wingham Advance Times. We appreciate them allowing us to post this to our website and also thank A-T reporter Cory Bilyea for reporting our position.

Message from Ontario Ministry of Economic Development.

Please allow me to share the attached information for your awareness, reference, and dissemination to businesses.

Reducing regulatory burden on Ontario businesses is a priority.  This is why Ontario’s regulatory ministries are considering ways to better integrate their work and share information with businesses.  A longer-term goal is for compliant businesses to be visited by fewer regulators over a set timeframe, and regulators can more efficiently target non-compliant businesses engaging in high-risk behaviour.

It can be confusing, and time consuming, for businesses to understand their requirements and handle multiple inspections from many ministries over the same period and we are providing integrated information about their regulatory requirements across government to increase awareness and compliance.  Businesses will be able to more effectively use Ontario resources and make it easier for businesses to comply with requirements while improving protections for the people of Ontario.

Kind regards,
Michael

Michael Buranyi
Senior Business Advisor (A)  |  Business Advisory Services Branch
Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade  |  Ontario Public Service519-630-3879  |  Michael.Buranyi@ontario.ca

The 2024 Wingham BIA Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held Thursday, Feb. 15 at the Knights Lounge of the Complex. There was a light turnout, due to weather, but there was quorum to pass motions.

BIA Chair, Dave Tiffin, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The minutes of the 2023 AGM were viewed and passed as written. The achievements of 2023 were read, with the following being noted:

1. The Curb Appeal subcommittee under the direction of Doug Kuyvenhoven performed the usual maintenance along Josephine St of clearing weeds on a regular basis.
   • A Waste Free Wednesday was also done across town.
   • They looked after ordering and installing the flower baskets at businesses along Josephine St.
   • Doug also organized “The Green Team” that sanded and repainted the fencing at the Wingham Cemetery. More on this later.
2. The Wingham Community Cash was rebranded as BIA Bucks. Working with Libro Credit Union the BIA did a Christmas discount of 5%. The BIA Bucks program keeps shopping local to Wingham businesses. The BIA Bucks program has been very successful over the years and we’ve had requests for information on how it’s set up from multiple communities, even as far away as B.C.
3. The BIA ontinues to see ongoing demand for postings on the LED sign by Tim Hortons.  Have also had requests from other centres as to how this project was planned and completed.
4. Participated in the Huron County mural project that’s now installed outside by the Complex doors.
5. The BIA was disappointed to hear the museum wouldn’t be moving to the train station, but started an initiative with the library to create a permanent Alice Munro display at the local branch in her honour. Work is ongoing, with financial support from the BIA, in conjunction with the local library and the Huron County Museum.
6. The new benches for Josephine St were ordered in 2023, but didn’t arrive until the fall.  They have recently been installed and the old benches will be refurbished for the trail.
7. Proposed to Council that the section of the park between Patrick and John St by the splashpad be renamed Vance Park in honour of Leland and Thora Vance for their generous, ongoing donation to the town. This is work in progress.
8. Continued to support the Lions Club Santa Claus parade by paying the insurance costs and bringing in the Seaforth marching band. 
9. Although not BIA initiatives per se we’re very happy to see many successful shows at the Town Hall Theatre which bring people into town.  And the new sidewalk and crossings at the south end of town are a great addition for the businesses in that area.

     In summary of the initiatives, Chair Tiffin noted that he’d like to thank the Board for their work throughout the year.  Wingham BIA Board is totally volunteer with no paid staff.  We are in the approximate 10% of Ontario BIAs that are all volunteer.

The financial statements for 2023 were presented by Treasurer, Doug Kuyvenhoven. He detailed the expenditures of 2023 for those in attendance and the report was passed as presented.

Next, the proposed budget for 2024 was presented. There being no questions from those in attendance a motion was put forward and passed to accept the proposed budget.

The goals for 2024 were next presented by Chair Tiffin. These include:

• The new benches being installed along Josephine St.  Existing benches will be refurbished and placed at locations along the walking trail.
• BIA is assuming oversite of the Town Hall Theatre.  A subcommittee has been set up to keep the bar high.  Township will do the bookings at least for the time being. Denise Lockie of the Township noted that several bookings are already in place for 2024.
• The BIA will look into Christmas decorations north of the train tracks.  Businesses in that area feel left out, understandably so.  The street lights in that area don’t have hydro.
• Projects planned for 2024 include: Security cameras along Josephine St., Josephine St wifi with easy access for visitors and working with the Alice Munro Library on the permanent display in Munro’s honour.
• F.E. Madill is hosting a job/career fair on March 27. The BIA and Township will be assisting with promotion. There will be an afternoon and evening session.
• The Chair will continue to attend the scheduled roundtable calls with other Huron County BIAs and HC Ec Dev for information sharing.  Also try to attend OBIAA zoom calls on Tuesdays when possible. OBIAA calls have been good source of information, sharing ideas with other BIAs across Ontario.
  • The BIA will continue to provide notices of programs and training available to businesses through the BIA FB page.
• Curb appeal projects will be ongoing under direction of Doug Kuyvenhoven. Will work with Homecoming to have Josephine St looking great.
• Retailers are starting to meet monthly to discuss promotion options.
• The BIA is working with Marks Bros Auto for the refurbishment of the Welcome to Wingham signs at each end of town. Hopefully this will be completed in time for Homecoming.
• We are planning to bring back a form of General meetings.  These were stopped due to Covid and have never returned. Although Board meetings are open and people have an opportunity to speak on an agenda point, it is felt there should be a more general session where any topic can be approached. We propose to start General meeting at 6:30 the night of a Board meeting.  There will not be an agenda, but guests can bring up items for discussion.  Once these are dealt with, the general meeting will be adjourned and we’ll move directly into the Board meeting.

Next on the agenda was the annual awards. The Civic Improvement went to Arnold Morrison for the work done at Annette’s Treasures & Jewlz Designs and to Murray Simpson for work done on the former medical office building.
New businesses in 2023 were Harmony Hearing, Syd’s Barkin’ Beauties, Mane Inspiration, Soul Journey, Kneaded Relief and Wholesome Raw Pet Food.
Volunteer of the year went to “The Green Team”. This was a group of people who came together to paint the fencing at the Wingham Cemetery. Team members were: Paul and Gail Heffer, Tharon Riley, Jeanette King, Penny Mulvey, Gary and Maureen Lisle. On most days, there were at least 5 working and usually went from about 8:30 until noon. There are 159 sections of fence with an average of 23 bars per section for a total of 3657 bars and they were all sanded first, front and back and then painted, some twice. We figured we spent around 325-man hours on the job and had lots of laughs and fun doing it. I believe we were there about 5 weeks.

The final award was for Lifetime Achievement and was presented to Bruce Stainton. Chair Tiffin said the following about Bruce prior to presenting him with a certificate: “Bruce retired from the family business in 2023.  He took over the business of Stainton Home Hardware from his father, Murray and ran it for several years.  Bruce was a mainstay on Josephine St and very involved in business and community events.  Bruce led the Dig Our Downtown retail event when Josephine St was reconstructed several years ago. That led to regular business meetings and the eventual development of the Wingham BIA. Bruce was Chair of the Wingham BIA for several years after its establishment. We wish him well in his retirement“

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:50 p.m.

BIA Chair Dave Tiffin congratulates Doug Kuyvenhoven and members of “The Green Team” that painted the fencing at the Wingham Cemetery. L-R are Tiffin, Kuyvenhoven, Gary Lisle, Tharon Riley, Penny Mulvey, Paul Heffer. Absent are Gail Heffer and Jeannette King.

BIA Chair Dave Tiffin presents Bruce Stainton with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Christmas season is officially on in Wingham with the annual Lighting of the Lights at Cruickshank Park on Nov. 17.

Several people were on hand for the 6:30 lighting sponsored by the Wingham BIA. The BIA would like to thank North Huron Public Works, the Wingham Firefighters and the United Church choir for their assistance and participation. The choir leads the gathering in singing Christmas carols. Also a thank you to Dave Wallace for the sound system and special thanks to Tharon Riley as the lead on this event for several years now, along with some volunteer assistance. After a welcome from the BIA chairperson, Wilma Hiemstra said a few words about the reason for the season before the carolling began.

Remax Realty was onhand serving hot chocolate and cookies to the crowd. Someone referred to the event as a “Hallmark moment”.

Merry Christmas everyone. And don’t forget to shop Wingham!!

The Wingham BIA Board has approved a sale on Wingham BIA Community Cash, commonly referred to as BIA Bucks.  There is a 5% discount on the purchase of BIA Bucks through November to December 24..

Great for Christmas bonuses to employees. Great for stocking stuffers.
The benefit to the community in that the BIA Cash gets spent in Wingham.
Purchase BIA Bucks at Libro Credit Union in Wingham. Sales is on now.

The following conditions apply to this sale:

1. The sale only applies to purchases of full booklets.
2. A booklet valued at $200 can be purchased for $190.
3. Coupons are in a mix of $10 and $20 denominations.
4. The purchase must be made between Nov 1st to Dec 24th, 2023.
5. The maximum amount that can be purchased under the sale is:
   1. $4000 per business
   2. $600 per individual
6. There is a limit on the amount being sold and when that limit is reached, the sale ends.

BIA Bucks should be redeemable at all Wingham businesses except for chains like McDonalds, Tims, Pioneer etc. Business owner takes coupons to Libro for full reimbursement.