'Quest It' Mobile App Creator Takes Grand Prize In Innovation Cluster's 'Cubs' Lair' Entrepreneurial Competition

Hadi Jakmora’s mobile app ‘Quest It’ took home first place at the Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas’s ‘Cubs' Lair’ entrepreneurial competition held at Erben on Thursday.

Winner Hadi Jakmora (middle left) with his grand prize after winning the Cubs’ Lair competition. Photo courtesy of Innovation Cluster Peterborough.

Jakmore took home the grand prize of $3,000, for his app, designed for everyday task assistance, facilitating local services from snow removal to meal preparation.

Matt Anderson clinched second place and a $1,500 award for Chemong City Greens, an enterprise cultivating organic microgreens. Its nutrient-rich produce enhances meals year-round, enriching Peterborough's local food network.

Nicholas Landon secured third place and a $500 prize for Course Sync Inc., an innovative platform revolutionizing student academic management.

Other participants included:

• Zachary McCue of REPWR

• Ashley Bonner of Community Pin

• Yash Ramnani of Nectar

• Jayden Smith of Cub Storage Inc

Judges for the event were Marcelo Sarkis of Prima IP, Jade Calver of Calver Immigration Consulting Inc. and Jason Fiorotto, a seasoned B2B marketing strategist.

“The Innovation Cluster extends heartfelt congratulations to all Cubs' Lair 2023 participants for their remarkable creativity and dedication,” according to a press release statement. “We eagerly anticipate the future success of these entrepreneurs in Peterborough and beyond as they continue to shape the landscape of innovation.”

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Voice of Business: Supporting Stronger Indigenous Economic Outcomes

We need to do better when it comes to economic reconciliation.

Economic reconciliation is so much more than a moral imperative — the cost of inaction is holding us back culturally and economically.

There’s a new policy paper from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) called Sharing Prosperity: An Introduction to Building Relationships for Economic Reconciliation in Ontario. It’s an introductory resource as part of the Economic Reconciliation Initiative, a partnership between both organizations aimed at advancing economic reconciliation by building business capacity to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 92.

It's key to appreciate that reports like this are a starting place. It provides some of the resources to build relationships and move us in the right direction. To get there, it helps give historical context, provides insights on Indigenous rights, highlights challenges facing Indigenous businesses, and provides meaningful opportunities for engagement.

The report describes an Indigenous economy that is both strong and growing with Indigenous businesses contributing nearly $50 billion annual to Canada’s GDP. There are more than 75,000 Indigenous-owned businesses and entrepreneurs in Canada.

Some of the key actions that businesses can take include:

• Advancing Indigenous cultural awareness and education by sharing territorial acknowledgements, distributing educational reconciliation resources to staff, providing Indigenous cultural competency training, and attending/participating in Indigenous events.

• Promoting equitable Indigenous employment and business opportunities by providing reduced rates/complimentary access to events, memberships, and training for Indigenous businesses/individuals, implementing inclusive Human Resource strategies to recruit and retain Indigenous candidates, auditing workplace policies and procedures to promote reconciliation, linking executive compensation to economic reconciliation performance metrics, and convening an Indigenous Advisory Committee.

• Engaging with Indigenous communities and supporting economic development by making Indigenous community investments, developing Indigenous partnership-building and engagement strategies, implementing Indigenous procurement policies, obtaining certification/accreditation in Indigenous relations, developing a Reconciliation Action Plan, and entering into revenue- or equity-sharing agreements with Indigenous businesses and/or communities.

Diversity, equity and inclusion as well as environmental, social and governance goals are becoming a bigger priority for many businesses and organizations. While connected to both of those approaches, economic reconciliation puts a focus on efforts to recognize the unique, inherent, ancestral, and customary responsibilities of Indigenous Peoples.

Reports like Sharing Prosperity help outline what businesses and organizations of all sizes can do to support stronger Indigenous economic outcomes.

As stated by the OCC Board of Directors: “It is critical to underscore that reconciliation is not about ‘checking a box’ but rather committing to a continual process of learning and action.”

Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.

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Photos: The Chocolate Rabbit Makes Its Grand Opening of Third Location In East City

The Chocolate Rabbit has opened its third location in Peterborough with its grand opening in East City on Saturday.

Elaine Webster (left), Kristine Webster (middle) and Nichol Wagenblast (right) showcasing some of the chocolatier's featured items. All photos by David Tuan Bui.

Several people and dignitaries including Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferrari and Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith were in attendance for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Free samples, coupons (with purchase of times) and raffles for gift baskets were available at the event.

Customers could meet the Webster family who owns the business, who purchased the business from Lois and Larry MacEachern in August of 2021.

“We have been left speechless with the amount of turnout and support that the community has provided us today,” said Kristine Webster of The Chocolate Rabbit. “All in all, we had a wonderful experience and are so happy to have met and connected with each and every one of you.”

The other locations are in Lakefield and Bancroft and are also owned by the Webster family.

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StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Nóstimo by the Original Greek and PKED

PTBOCanada is delighted to be running StoosNews columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…

George Anagnostou and Shannon Leclair opened Nóstimo by the Original Greek two and a half years ago for catering and takeout.

Located at 184 Marina Blvd. in the Northcrest Plaza, the business partners recently added two dining rooms and a new menu. Leclair, a Red Seal Chef, has designed a Greek-Mediterranean style menu and George, a certified Sommelier, handles the wine pairings.

They are open for business and taking reservations for the holiday season. Just call 705-991-3747 for reservations for either lunch or dinner, including group and business functions or visit nostimobytheoriginalgreek.com.

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development recently announced the latest Starter Company Plus micro-grants recipients of up to $5,000 each.

Designed to support sustainable business growth further, 12 local businesses completed the five-week full-day business training course offered by the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Business Advisory Centre, and the grants were award to eight of them based on the strength of their business plan, cashflow forecast, and business pitch.

The grants went to Iola Taylor – Cold Duck Creamery, a gourmet cold treat that is creamier and more luxurious tasting than regular ice cream, Joe and Liz Crowley – Crowley Acres, hub for dog lovers for boarding, daycare, an off-leash dog park, training, and breeding, Sara Scheuermann – Steaped Slow Ceramics, offering a unique approach to handmade pottery, Katie Jackson – Wanderlight Luxury Farm Stay, a private, off grid geodesic dome in Douro-Dummer Township, Jordan Lyall – Jordan Lyall Photography, specializing in a fun, relaxed, and child-centred experience, Cody Lewis – Cody Lewis Carpentry, renovations, restorations and new builds, Meg Kynock – muttmixx, all natural, healthy, healing, vegan, gluten free dog treat, and Mackenzie Caldwell – Grace & Glow Beauty Studio, with a focus on personalized beauty treatments and comprehensive education for aspiring beauty professionals.

Since its launch in 2017, the Starter Company Plus program through the Business Advisory Centre has assisted over 230 entrepreneurs in Peterborough & the Kawarthas. These small businesses have created over 220 jobs for the local economy.

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VIDEO: Whistle Stop To Shut Its Doors After 15 Years of Business

After 15 years of business, The Whistle Stop Café is closing on Dec. 17.

Pete Dalliday talks with Peggy and Liz Shaughnessy of Whistle Stop Café about the decision to close the business and their future plans to help the community with Right to Heal Peterborough.

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Video Teaser: Whistle Stop To Shut Its Doors After 15 Years of Business

The Whistle Stop Café is closing after 15 years in business. Pete Dalliday talks with Peggy and Liz Shaughnessy of Whistle Stop Café about their closing and what’s next for them.

Full details and video for 9 a.m. on Nov. 30.

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Voice of Business: Businesses to Pick Up the $3 Million Tab For Appearance of Tax Savings

Increasing the tax ratio for commercial and industrial properties does not save money, increase revenue, or reduce taxes — it merely shifts who pays more taxes.

Yet, this move is being touted by the City of Peterborough’s finance committee as savings as part of its strategy to get the all-inclusive tax rate increase down from 9.59 per cent to 7.38 per cent. The recommendation will increase the ratio of what commercial and industrial property owners pay from 1.5 times that of residential taxpayers to 1.65, shifting $3 million in taxation to local businesses.

What’s especially frustrating is that this decision appears to have been made on a whim – without consultation with the business community or connection to any particular economic plan. The original staff recommendation in the draft budget was to leave the tax ratio as-is.

Decisions around tax policy should have strategic goals and involve consultations. Fourteen years ago, the council of the day worked with industry associations and businesses themselves to come up with a strategy to increase economic growth in our community. The result was a target commercial and industrial tax ratio of 1.5. Getting there took a decade with gradual decreases in the ratio and included regular input from the business community. The result played a role in the rapid development of employment lands in the city to the point that we now have very few spaces for business to move and grow into.

Local businesses are already paying much higher taxes than residents and we aren’t pushing for anything besides the status quo, which is an established competitive benchmark.

Recognizing that businesses already pay 1.5 times the rate of residents, our recommendation is that the City work to expand our employment lands. We’ve been talking about this issue for the better part of 20 years with little progress and now we’re at a critical tipping point with local industry. I’ve talked with two local manufacturers in the last two weeks who are local success stories and are outgrowing their facilities. We have nowhere for them to expand to and we may lose them in the near future. We also have businesses interested in setting up in the region but we have no suitable properties to offer.

Let’s generate more tax revenue from the business community by expanding our commercial and industrial tax base! As an added bonus, businesses typically use fewer services than residents despite their higher tax rate. It’s a win-win for residents and the City.

Many in the business community are still struggling from a few very challenging years. It has been a tough go for many — businesses, residents, and even the municipality. Everything is getting more expensive. The reasons the City is facing a soaring budget increase — rising labour, fuel, and capital costs due to significant inflation — are the same struggles being faced by our local business community. Many businesses are also struggling to service significant debt incurred during the pandemic, which is now at much higher interest rates with repayment deadlines looming.

We applaud our elected leaders for recognizing that the proposed tax increase will be a significant burden for some in our community and are making efforts to reduce this. Many councils over the decades have faced tough decisions at budget time. There are many unpopular choices to make, which typically fall into two areas — increase taxes or reduce services. Everything proposed in the budget has value, but we elect our leaders to make the tough decisions when the time comes.

It’s an oft-repeated line from elected leaders that there is one taxpayer. Shifting $3 million in tax levy to one group of property owners and calling it savings for another does not give the impression that we are all in this together.

Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.

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StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Terry Guiel, Chatime, Arc Motor Company and Hometown Aesthetics Jamie

PTBOCanada is delighted to be running StoosNews columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…

Congratulations to Terry Guiel on being named the new Executive Director of the Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce.

Guiel had a great 10-year run with the Peterborough DBIA, introducing innovative and award-winning programs and events such as Win this Space, Live and Local Lunches, Big Band Day, Naloxone Training Sessions, the One City Clean Team, Green Team and Outreach Team, Hootenanny, Taste of Downtown and many more. He takes over the Lindsay and District Chamber from Allyssa Adams. Congratulations Terry!

Congratulations Kanza Ghazanfar on opening a Chatime franchise here in Peterborough.

Located at 1447 Water St., next to Osmow’s, Chatime offers dozens of drink combinations from milk tea, fruit tea, specialty drinks, smoothies and slush, jelly and juice and more. Chatime is fully staffed by Trent Students! Stop in or visit Chatime.ca for details.

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Peterborough has been called The Electric City, perhaps because it was home to General Electric for many years or because it was the first City in Canada to introduce electric streetlights but the moniker is being revisited with the introduction last week of the ARC Motor Company.

The brother and sister team of Sloane Paul and Tom Chep, who grew up in the South end, describe ARC as a green-tech start-up that transforms and upcycles iconic classic cars into modern and powerful electric vehicles. For details visit arcmotors.com.

Photo by David TUan Bui.

Hometown Aesthetics Jamie recently relocated her business from Indian River to 950 Lansdowne St. W. in the Walmart Plaza at Lansdowne and The Parkway.

Jaime started sugaring in 2015 and has since obtained over 20 certifications in services such as lash lifts, tinting, brow laminations, semi-permanent mascara, classic lash extensions, volume lash extensions, henna brows, microblading, body treatments and facials. Having obtained her certification as a Master Educator, Jamie is one of only five Ontario Sugaring Educators with Alexandria Professional. To book an appointment visit hometownaesthetics.ca.

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Starter Company Plus Program Provide $39,000 In Grants to Eight Local Small Businesses

Eight local small businesses were given micro-grants of $39,000 combined from the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) to help support sustainable business growth in a cheque presentation at the Venture North Building on Thursday.

(Top) Madeleine Hurrell, Manager of the Business Advisory Centre; (Middle left to right) Cody Lewis, Mackenzie Caldwell, Meaghan Kynock, Katie Jackson (Bottom left to right) Iola Taylor, Sara Scheuermann, Jordan Lyall, Joe Crowley. Since its launch in 2017, the Starter Company Plus program through the BAC has assisted over 230 entrepreneurs in Peterborough & the Kawarthas. These small businesses have created over 220 jobs in the local economy. Photo courtesy of PKED.

The funding was through the provincial government’s Starter Company Plus program.

Twelve small business entrepreneurs completed the five-week full-day business training course the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Business Advisory Centre (BAC) offered. According to PKED, based on the strength of their business plan, cashflow forecast, and business pitch, the following businesses were each awarded a micro-grant of up to $5,000:

• Iola Taylor – Cold Duck Creamery, City of Peterborough

• Joe and Liz Crowley – Crowley Acres, Township of Otonabee South-Monaghan

• Sara Scheuermann – Steaped Slow Ceramics, City of Peterborough

• Katie Jackson – Wanderlight Luxury Farm Stay, Douro-Dummer Township

• Jordan Lyall – Jordan Lyall Photography, City of Peterborough

• Cody Lewis – Cody Lewis Carpentry, City of Peterborough

• Meg Kynock – muttmixx, Township of Havelock Belmont-Methuen

• Mackenzie Caldwell – Grace&Glow Beauty Studio, City of Peterborough

“Now in its tenth intake, the Starter Company Plus program has directly contributed to the growth and development of small businesses in Peterborough & the Kawarthas,” said Madeleine Hurrell, Business Advisory Centre (BAC) manager. “Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development understands how critically important our small business sector is to our local economy; these businesses support our workforce, attract visitors and invest back into the community.”

As part of the Starter Company Plus program, all participants receive ongoing business support from the BAC to stimulate growth and scale their businesses. They are also pre-conditionally approved for a micro-loan through partner agency Community Futures Peterborough. They will receive a complimentary six-month trial to the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.

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Voice of Business: OCC Calls For Forward Looking Investments in Budget 2024 Amidst Economic Challenges

Guest Column from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce

In the wake of the Province’s Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, Rocco Rossi, President and CEO, Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), is calling on the Ontario government to prioritize strategic, long-term investments in the upcoming 2024 budget.

“Ontario’s business community continues to grapple with challenges ranging from labour shortages to inflation to broader economic uncertainty. In Budget 2024, the Ontario government needs to focus on measures that not only support immediate growth but also lay the groundwork for sustainable long-term economic expansion.”

The OCC’s membership encompasses a wide range of industries, each with its unique needs and challenges. However, there are crucial areas where the government’s focus in the 2024 budget can significantly impact all sectors. These include:

1. Investing in Workforce Development: To address critical labour shortages, investments to resolve skills mismatches are vital. These initiatives should be designed to close the gap between current workforce skills and the evolving demands of Ontario’s labour market.

2. Enhancing Infrastructure: Strategic investments in infrastructure, including transportation and digital connectivity, can boost immediate economic activity while supporting long-term growth. This includes expanding broadband access in rural and remote areas and upgrading public transit and road networks.

3. Fostering a Business-Friendly Environment: Implementing policies that reduce red tape and create a conducive environment for business growth is essential. This includes reviewing and streamlining regulatory processes, providing tax incentives for businesses looking to expand or relocate to Ontario and targeted support for indebted small businesses.

4. Supporting Innovation and Technology: Encouraging the adoption of new technologies and supporting innovation can help Ontario businesses remain competitive in a global market. This includes providing incentives for research and development and supporting technology-driven sectors.

“The OCC welcomes the Province’s commitments in its 2023 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review across crucial policy areas, including housing, health care, investment attraction, workforce, and infrastructure, which will have positive implications for the economy. Notably, the new Ontario Infrastructure Bank (OIB) has the potential to unlock private investment in infrastructure, including affordable housing, which has been indicated as a top priority for the bank.”

The OCC remains committed to working collaboratively with the government and its members to advocate for policies that bolster the province’s economic health and ensure a prosperous future for Ontario.

The Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce is an active and engaged member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.

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