Through our Annual Grants program, Libro funds initiatives helping address local priorities aligned with our pillars of financial resilience, employment, local food accessibility and housing across southwestern Ontario.
This year we will invest $310,000 in our local communities through this program
Applications are open from April 17 to May 26
Applications will be reviewed and selected by locally elected Owner Representatives (Grant Champions)
The Wingham BIA held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, Feb. 16 in the lounge of the Knights of Columbus Hall.
Called to order at 6:30 p.m. Chair, Dave Tiffin read the minutes of the 2022 AGM, which had been held virtually due to Covid in February 2022. The minutes were passed unanimously. Economic Development Officer Demetri Makrakos then presented proposed changes to the Wingham BIA constitution. This dealt with removing the industrial park businesses from the levy which reduces the annual levy by approximately $2,500. The changes were passed unanimously.
Chair Tiffin then gave a report on 2022 activities which included:
2022 saw the reopening after Covid. The online shopping trend will remain a concern for brick and mortar businesses.
However, we did see new businesses open their doors in Wingham– Riverview Local Eatery, Cornerstone Pizza, Pet Valu, Duck Duck Juice, Noah’s Pizza
We did, unfortunately, lose a few businesses well. Some for personal reasons.
The LED sign project was completed in March. We have received many positive comments from both residents and other towns.
We’ve been asked about putting paid advertising on it, but as a volunteer board we do not have the resources to manage that at this time.
2 BIA member businesses are featured weekly
The July 1 fireworks returned and the Santa Claus parade was held again, as in 2021. The BIA covers the extra insurance cost for these events.
BIA brought in and paid for Seaforth Marching Band.
The lighting of the Christmas lights in Cruikshank returned as an in person event.
Unfortunately vandalism is a problem at the park with items being broken or stolen.
Curb appeal continues with the addition of 2 Waste Free Wednesdays. These were initiated by a Wingham citizen, but the BIA buys the gloves and garbage bags.
Curb appeal also coordinates the summer flower baskets and Christmas gnomes, with help from volunteers.
BIA volunteers continue to assist with Josephine St appearance.
2 successful retail promotions were held with the summer sidewalk sales moving to August from July. Thank you to Ashley Vander Velden for all the work she did on these and initiating some new ideas.
As Chair, I spoke to NH Council to promote the Museum project. This has unfortunately been discontinued due to budget restraints. This is a loss to the business community from a tourism aspect.
There is however an initiative in the works to have an Alice Munro display at the local library.
Worked with Mid West Communications on the Tourist Map of Wingham and North Huron area. These are distributed throughout the area. We have samples here for anyone who hasn’t seen one. Please feel free to take a few or request some that could be picked at your place of business.
Treasurer Doug Kuyvenhoven presented the financials for 2022. There were no questions from the floor. Kuyvenhoven then presented the proposed budget for 2023 which was passed unanimously.
Council representative to the BIA, Mitch Wright, gave an update from Council. Wright gave a brief but very informational report on some current NH issues.
Chair Tiffin then returned to the podium to list the BIA goals for 2023. These include:
New benches along Josephine St. to replace the existing ones. Existing benches will be refurbished and placed at locations along the walking trail.
Continue to promote the Town Hall Theatre shows which draw people to Wingham and the business community.
New flags and banners will be on streetlights. See the image below.
Looking for new Christmas theme. Gnomes have had their run.
Considering some other projects, but nothing definite at this point:
Security cameras
Historical plaques
Josephine St wifi
Alice Munro display at library
Will continue to align with Wingham Community Connectors to promote events and positive aspects of Wingham
F.E. Madill planning to hold a career/job fair in March. BIA is assisting with promotion
Continue the biweekly roundtable calls with other HC BIAs and HC Ec Dev for information sharing
Will keep notices of programs and training on the BIA FB page.
Curb appeal projects – Doug Kuyvenhoven
Expect to run retail promotions again, but will be looking for a Coordinator.
Makrakos then reviewed the nominees for the Wingham BIA Board for 2023. The BIA can have 4-8 members plus 1 Council representative. There were 5 returning Board members and 2 nominations. Returning members are Dave Tiffin, Doug Kuyvenhoven, Annette Monsma, Carolyn Young and Jim Snyder. The new nominees are Joey Havers and Ryan Fergusson. The members will need to be approved by North Huron Council, but no issues are anticipated. Ashley Vander Velden decided to not return to the Board due to work commitments.
The annual BIA awards were next on the agenda. The BIA has categories for new businesses in the year, civic improvement, lifetime achievement, and volunteer of the year. Not all awards are necessarily given each year. For 2022 the new businesses were Duck Duck Juice, Noah’s Pizza, Riverview Local Eatery, Cornerstone Pizza and Pet Valu. Civic improvement went to Fogal’s Independent and KYC for work done on their facades as well as Maitland Family Dental for their new accessible entry. Volunteer of the year was presented to Ashley Vander Velden for her work on the year’s retail promotions.
The meeting closed with a question and answer session but there were no questions from the floor. Monthly BIA Board meetings are the 3rd Thursday of each month with the exception of July. They start at 6:30 p.m. and are held in the Hot Stove Lounge of the NHWCC.
At the September 19th council meeting, the proposed parking by-law was sent back to North Huron staff with direction to get feedback from local businesses. Staff has decided to take the opportunity to include with some parking questions, a more in-depth Downtown Business Survey. We are aware some of you filled out a similar survey last year for the Huron County Business Retention & Expansion report, however we believe the economic environment has changed enough to warrant recollecting, updating and adding some further questions. We have also included a one-page economic development update as well as a Jobs Posting Analysis:
Economic Development Update à community profile, grant funding opportunities, upcoming webinars & training. See the link below.
Job Postings Analysis à this report was presented to council at the Oct 3rd meeting, looking at the number and types of occupations posted in North Huron since 2018. See the link below. Businesses having trouble hiring might find this useful. A regional analysis expanding on this report is currently underway.
Should you want to discuss Josephine and Queen Street parking in more detail, North Huron staff welcomes businesses to join us at the Wingham Town Hall theatre on Wednesday October 26th between 8am to 9am. We’d ask that you email dmakrakos@northhuron.ca if you plan to join us so we have an idea of numbers.
The Huron County Chamber of Commerce is hosting an All Candidates meeting for non-acclaimed candidates in the North Huron municipality. This is for candidates for Reeve and Council. It does not include School Board candidates. It will be held Thursday, Sept. 29 beginning at 7:00 in the Wingham Town Hall Theatre. Voters can submit questions to candidates ahead of time to info@huronchamber.ca
Candidates have 2 minutes to present their platform. After a break they will respond to written questions. Questions can be emailed ahead of time to Huron County Chamber as noted above, or written during the break and submitted to the Moderator.
The summer sidewalk sales weekend was changed from July, as in previous years, to the Aug 4-6 weekend. Feedback has been very positive on the change. This year, the event also included many more activities. The Alice Munro Library ran a Kidz Zone with face painting and arts and crafts. There was a fundraiser with proceeds going to the Wingham and District Hospital and buskers displaying their talents. Lady Glaze Donuts were in town for Friday and Saturday serving up their unique donuts, coffees and delicious shakes.
On Saturday, Castings Public House hosted a parking lot party with live music, a dunk tank and live entertainment. Mary Cook was the winner of the business gift cards, which was the prize of the hospital fundraiser.
It was great to see some new ideas this year, and hopefully we can continue to grow this event into something larger. If you have some ideas or would like to help out with future events we are always open to constructive input. You can reach us directly by email at chair@wingham.ca.
Welcome to new businesses in Wingham! In recent weeks we’ve seen new businesses open up in our main business core. Riverview Local Eatery has been open for several weeks now and is located in the former Riverview Drive-in Restaurant location at the north end of Josephine St. Pet Valu has opened at the south end of town in the new building beside McDonalds and the Petro Canada gas station. Cornerstone Pizza has opened in the former Bell’s Pizza location, but is still using the amazing Bell’s recipes for pizzas and subs. Noah’s Pizza is also opened and is in the former Godfather’s building. This is a second location for Noah’s, named after the owner’s son, with the other in Linwood.
Also, don’t forget that Homegrown Food Basket has relocated further north on Josephine to #239. The larger space can accommodate more produce from local suppliers.
The Community Improvement Plan (CIP) initiative for Wingham, Belgrave and Blyth main streets remains open for applications in 2022!
There is $40,000 in matching grants available to commercial building owners and retailers along the business cores for building, signage and other storefront improvements. Successful applicants can receive 50% assistance on a project to a maximum of $10,000.
Through North Huron’s Community Improvement Plan, two grant programs are offered annually – the Commercial Façade Improvement Grant Program and the Direct Grant for Structural Work Program.
On May 4 30 energetic volunteers came out to pick up litter throughout Wingham. In just two hours teams covered every street in town plus the community trail. A total of 50 bags of garbage was picked up. Each volunteer separated recyclable from non-recyclable waste as they picked up the garbage. Tim Hortons donated coffee and timbits for the volunteers to enjoy in the train station at the conclusion of the event. Organizer, Pete Mulvey, said he plans to run the event again in the fall making this a bi-annual event. In the attached photo, note the 2 pictures of a discarded shoe.
Installation of the BIA’s LED sign at the Tim Hortons corner was completed Apr. 5. All going well the sign will be powered up on Wednesday and we will see various graphics displayed on the sign.
The BIA’s LED sign is meant to promote attractions and events in Wingham. (shows at the theatre, fireworks, BIA retail promotions, blood donor clinics, Wingham Community Trail, Alice Munro, etc)
At the last BIA board meeting, the board voted in favour of, for the first year, also featuring two BIA member businesses per week… for FREE. You can view this as yet another benefit of being a member of the Wingham BIA.
The sign will also be used to welcome new businesses opening in Wingham, and the 5th, 10th, 15th… etc business anniversaries of any BIA member business. If you have a business anniversary coming up be sure to let us know.
Special thanks go to: Hodgins Rona for donating the sonotube and lumber for constructing the sign base Township of North Huron Works Dept for their vacuum truck and time in coordinating bringing power to the sign from the MacDonalds corner across the road Sepoy Wiring for much need assistance it getting power to the sign Hurontel for donating a data SIM card for one year allowing us to remotely upload graphics to the sign Ashley Vander Velden of Naturally Bongins for volunteering to create all the graphics that will be displayed on the sign.
The BIA is not selling advertising space on the LED sign at this time. Currently we will only be promoting Wingham events and Wingham attractions.
Organizations wishing to promote their Wingham event on the BIA’s LED sign are to send an email to info@winghambia.ca with the text and images they wish have on the sign. The BIA board reserves the right to approve or deny any request. Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. — Henry Ford
At the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Wingham BIA, Chair Dave Tiffin recognized the contributions of retiring board member Lisa Hearnden with the Lifetime Achievement certificate. Lisa was a founding member of the Wingham BIA and her contributions to the community have been huge over the years. Below is a letter she wrote the board and general membership. Thank you, Lisa. =============================
March 2022
Dear Wingham BIA Executive and General Membership:
From its inception, the Wingham BIA has demonstrated the truth of the statement “there is strength in numbers”.
We have worked, as a group, towards the common goals of strengthening Wingham as a town and making Wingham an attractive shopping and business destination for residents and non-residents alike.
The Wingham BIA’s ongoing support of non-retail events such as the Muskrat Festival, Festival of Lanterns, the Canada Day Fireworks and the Santa Claus Parade continues to strengthen our community as a whole.
I have been fortunate to work alongside a dedicated executive team, enthusiastic BIA members and many volunteers from the community who have all chosen to generously contribute their time to enrich our town.
Together we have accomplished so much. Some of the stand out achievements include: The Christmas Lights in Cruikshank Park; retail promotions that have attracted new and existing customers while at the same time donating back to the community; main street improvements that have included decorative snow flake street lights, the hand railing at the Cenotaph, Canadian flags, volunteer clean up, flower baskets, and Christmas greenery all of which enhance the appearance of our main street. None of these great initiatives would have been possible without the assistance of volunteers who believe in the spirit of Wingham.
I am very proud to have been a part of the Wingham BIA since its inception and to have worked with all of you. I am honoured to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sincerely,
Lisa Hearnden
Wingham BIA Chair, Dave Tiffin, presents retiring Board member Lisa Hearnden with the Lifetime Achievment certificate.
Installation of the BIA’s LED sign at the Tim Hortons corner was completed Apr. 5. All going well the sign will be powered up on Wednesday and we will see various graphics displayed on the sign.
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. — Henry Ford 