Nominations Open For JA-Neo 2026 Business Hall of Fame

Nominations for JA Northern and Eastern Ontario’s (JA-NEO) 2026 Business Hall of Fame (BHF) are open for both Peterborough and the City of Kawartha Lakes, announced on Tuesday.

The 2025 inductees of Ja-Neo’s Business Hall of Fame. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

JA-NEO invites the public to submit their nominations to help recognize Peterborough and the City of Kawartha Lake’s exceptional business leaders who have strengthened the economy and community through their accomplishments of vision, leadership, and commitment to excellence in business. 

“JA-NEO is looking to honour individuals who, through their careers, have made a positive and everlasting impact on the community and the local business landscape,” said John McNutt, JA-NEO President and C.E.O. “By recognizing and celebrating those who make an impact today, we are helping to inspire youth who will be our community’s leaders of tomorrow.” 

Nominations close on Nov. 28 at 3:00 p.m. Nomination forms are available online. Successful nominees will be announced at a formal announcement in January and will be officially inducted into the JA-NEO Business Hall of Fame on May 7 for Kawartha Lakers and on May 26 for Peterborough.

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Local Embroidery's Custom Jacket Showcased By Toronto Blue Jays's Pitcher's Girlfriend

Local embroidery brand Petals & Thread has gotten some World Series attention, as one of its custom jackets was highlighted during Game One of the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

Shannon Bryant, Petals & Thread founder with the finished design of the custom jacket. Screenshot.

Taylor Frick, the girlfriend of Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage was spotted wearing the custom jacket during Game One of the World Series. It was featured in Sports Illustrated in an article published on Friday.

Petals & Thread founder Shannon Bryant says moments like this make her work extra meaningful.

“Seeing one of our jackets at the World Series was surreal,” said Bryant. “Our brand was built from a love of storytelling through embroidery and to see that story reach this level is something I’ll never forget.”

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Bryant posted an Instagram reel unveiling the finished jacket, tagging Frick.

The latter commented the following on the reel:

“The best of the best!!! You deserve all the recognition 🤍🤍 couldn’t be happier!”

After receiving the jacket, Bryant posted a photo of herself with it on her Instagram story.

Frick posting an Instagram story of her with the custom jacket and thanking Petals & Thread. Screenshot.

The World Series is tied at one piece in the best-of-seven series. Game three is in Los Angeles starting at 8 p.m. at Dodger Stadium.

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Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Holiday Night Market, Kawartha Home and Health Care, Living Local Marketplace and Community Futures Peterborough

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

There’s a Holiday Night Market in the works.

As part of the First Friday series, this one will be on Dec. 5 in the Bankers Commons Courtyard off Water Street. It will be a cozy evening of hot beverages, food, live music, handmade art, and some of Peterborough’s most creative vendors. The event is presented by First Friday Peterborough, The Neighbourhood Vintage, the DBIA and the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough.

Kawartha Home and Health Care Services have a new location at 347 Pido Rd. in Unit 17.

They provide compassionate and professional home healthcare tailored to meet the needs of local individuals and families. Locally owned and operated for a decade, they take pride in enhancing the quality of life for their clients with personalized care that ensures safety and comfort at home.

Living Local Marketplace is temporarily moving to a new holiday home at Horlings Garden Centre, located at 3056 Lakefield Rd.

This new space offers room for things like a full range of ready-to-gift baskets, a bright corporate gifting studio, and more space to sip, shop and celebrate. They will be back at their Chemong and Milroy location after Christmas.

Community Futures is launching Entrepreneurship 101: County Edition, a hands-on workshop series.

It will kick off Jan. 21 with Ideation and Business Planning with Allison Adam, followed by Marketing and Branding with Rose Terry on Feb. 4, and concluding with Funding and Cash Flow with Braden Clark on Feb. 18. The workshops are free, but space is limited. Sign up at communityfuturespeterborough.ca.

As Joel Wiebe’s last Business Beat, he leaves us these words:

“I have really enjoyed doing the Business Beat for the last two years, but it is time for me to move on. Stu Harrison left some big shoes to fill writing this column every week for the previous 22 years. I know Brenda Whitehead and the team at the Chamber are going to do a great job with the Business Beat moving forward. I’d like to thank the media partners that have given us free space to run this column every week to promote what’s happening in our local business community. I love working with local businesses who do so much to create the fabric of our community with delicious treats, creative services, and some really unique products. And thanks to all the readers and viewers and all your feedback over the last couple years. Farewell!”

If you want to have your business featured on the Business Beat or know of a business doing something new and interested, shoot an email to joel@pkchamber.ca.

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Community Futures Peterborough Launches New Guide to Help Entrepreneurs Hire Their First Employee

In celebration of Small Business Week 2025, Community Futures Peterborough (CFP) has released a new free resource to support local entrepreneurs and small business owners in hiring their first employee.

Photo courtesy of Community Futures Peterborough.

“Small businesses are the economic engine of Peterborough-Kawartha, and the decision to hire a first employee is a critical milestone that fuels our community's growth,” said Dave Smith, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP. “Every single new job created here is an investment in a stronger, more prosperous future for our entire region. I commend Community Futures Peterborough and the Business Advisory Centre for creating this practical resource to give our local entrepreneurs the confidence and tools they need to take that important next step.” 

The ‘Hiring Your First Employee’ guide is designed to help small business owners navigate the complex process of becoming an employer for the first time. It was developed in collaboration with the Business Advisory Centre. The guide provides practical, step-by-step insights on topics ranging from understanding employment laws and setting up payroll to writing job descriptions, conducting interviews and onboarding new team members effectively according to Devon Girard, CFP executive director.

“Hiring your first employee is a major milestone, but it can also feel overwhelming,” she said. “This guide simplifies the process by breaking down what business owners need to know, what steps to take, and where to find trusted local resources to make confident, informed decisions.”

Girard says the guide covers key areas such as:

• Understanding Ontario employment standards, human rights, and health and safety laws

• Registering with the CRA and WSIB

• Deciding when and how to hire

• Differentiating between employees and independent contractors

• Best practices for recruitment, interviewing, and onboarding

• Maintaining compliance through workplace policies and documentation

“The comprehensive guide was created to empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge they need to onboard their first employee responsibly and sustainably,” said Rose Terry, Business Advisory Centre and Corporate Communications manager. “By helping small business owners with a free resource to support their first hire, we are growing jobs in our community one-by-one and creating a more resilient local economy.”

The Hiring Your First Employee guide is availableon the Community Futures Peterborough website. In addition to this resource, entrepreneurs can also book a free advisory session with CFP to receive personalized support through the hiring process.

A workshop has also been added to CFP’s popular series, E101, supporting employee hiring. The Staff Smart: Hiring Your First Employee workshop will be held in person in December. Those interested in the workshop can register for free or the Community Futures Peterborough website.

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Photos: Community Futures Peterborough Leads Business Owners Through ‘The Modern Entrepreneur Experience'

Community Futures Peterborough (CFP) and the Business Advisory Centre hosted ‘The Modern Entrepreneur Experience,’ designed to empower local business owners with modern tools, insights, and connections for growth, held at the El(p) on Tuesday morning.

Devon Girard, CFP executive director (far left) addresses the audience after their lunch break at the El(p). All photos by David Tuan Bui.

According to CFP, the event brings together industry leaders, creative strategists, and marketing experts for a half-day of learning, networking, and inspiration, showcasing Peterborough’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.

There were several speakers at the event. Jason Fiorotto, a marketing and sales leader for over 25 years, taught attendees how to attract the right customers, convert leads and build long-term growth.

Shelby Leonard-Watt & Mike Watt of Plush, Flavour and SOS spoke about building a personal brand and sharing storytelling insights while exploring how style and brand presence can elevate business success.

Influencer Megan Patterson discussed how to leverage authentic storytelling and influencer strategy to connect with audiences and drive meaningful results.

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Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Country Bakery & Market, Mayor's Breakfast, Chicken N'Dough and Spark Centre

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

Country Bakery & Market is growing, recently opening a new location in Lansdowne Place.

This complements their other locations at Fowler’s Corners, Belleville, Whitby, Scarborough and Courtice. Drop by and you’ll be sure to find some UK favourites, including pies, sausage rolls, Victoria sponge Cake, Empire Biscuits, scones and more. Country Bakery & Market is a celebration of timeless British baking, blending age-old traditions with fresh local ingredients to deliver a slice of Britain with every bite. Drop by their new Lansdowne Place location and try some delicious treats.

The Peterborough and the Kawartha’s Chamber of Commerce is once again hosting their annual Mayor’s Breakfast at Peterborough Golf & Country Club on Nov. 27 starting at 8 a.m.

The event will feature a keynote address from Mayor Jeff Leal followed by a Q&A session with the audience. The Mayor’s special guest this year is Stuart Betts, Chief of Police with the Peterborough Police Service. This is your chance to learn what the City and the police are working on and ask your questions. Get your tickets at pkchamber.ca.

Chicken N’ Dough have a new location in downtown Peterborough at 182 Charlotte St.

Chicken N’ Dough aims to provide a unique, yet messy experience with wings, burgers, and poutine. They also have locations in Oakville, Richmond Hill, Ajax, Oshawa, Eglinton, and Orangeville. Drop by and try a savory smashburger, get messy with some loaded nacho wings, or get your wings served shredded on poutine. They use the freshest ingredients, quality cheese, and pride themselves on marinating their wings to perfection.

There’s a new program to help female founders and newcomer entrepreneurs start and scale their ventures in eastern Ontario’s energy, environment and engineering sectors.

Landing-Pad Accelerator offers support, funding, and mentorship to help your business grow. The program will provide participants with customized support, skill development, and access to a network of innovative partners. Funding includes a grant of up to $10,000 plus another $10,000 in co-investment as well as loans of up to $50,000. It is put on by the Spark Centre with support from the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce. Find out more at sparkcentre.org.

If you want to have your business featured on the Business Beat or know of a business doing something new and interested, shoot an email to joel@pkchamber.ca.

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Peterborough's Tim Jeffries Brings His Dino Extravaganza Tour Home to St. James United Church On Oct. 25.

Entrepreneur Tim Jeffries is excited to bring his national tour back home to Peterborough as he brings his ‘The World of Dinosaurs’ tour to St. James United Church on Oct. 25.

In 2024, Jeffries held over 50 talks across Canada and this year he expanded his tour to include PEI and Newfoundland in his cross-Canada tour, with more expansion already booked for 2026. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Jeffries will be bringing an extensive collection of real dinosaur bones with him, including T. rex teeth, Triceratops horns, Diplodocus vertebrae, Saurolophus Eggs and more.

The museum’s collection so far houses over 350 dinosaur bones and counting as he is in Alberta for fossil hunting.

“It is important to me to recognize the importance of my community and a great way to do that is to let them have the first look at the dinosaur fossils I find. But also, this lecture will have the most dinosaur bones on display that any other lecture so far,” said Jeffries. “It is important to me to help spark curiosity and inspire wonder and dinosaurs defiantly do that.”

The presentation will cover how dinosaurs ruled the planet, including facts about some of its most well-known species and how some of them survived the asteroid impact. A fully interactive museum presentation that informs, involves, and inspires all attendees.

Jeffries is a recent graduate of Community Future Peterborough’s Starter Company Plus program. He is grateful for what he has learned as he expands his business across Canada.

“This program and its team have been such a game changer for me,” he said. “I am so grateful for the guidance that I am receiving that is helping my company grow to something I couldn’t have even dreamed for myself.”

Tickets are $10 per Adult, $5 per Child or $20 for a Family.

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Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring DBIA, Lansdowne Place, TD Canada Trust and JA-NEO

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

Halloween is coming up and there are some events you don’t want to miss.

First, there’s Halloween in the Booro on Oct. 25 from 4 to 6 p.m. in Downtown Peterborough. Hosted by the Downtown Business Improvement Area, this event features 45 participating locations for tricks and treats. Plus, there will be costume prizes and a photobooth. This is your chance to get a head start on Halloween and check out some of the interesting shops in downtown Peterborough.

On Oct. 31, head to Lansdowne Place from 4 to 7 pm for another round of trick-or-treating with local businesses.

This event is in support of Autism Ontario. Collect treats from participating businesses and try your hand at spooky crafts in the Centre Court. Wrist bands are already on sale. Come out for a safe, inclusive, and fun-filled Halloween experience.

Lansdowne Place is looking a bit different these days.

The new TD Bank is open beside The Keg in the parking lot of the mall at the corner of Lansdowne and High Streets. It has been an ambitious build that creates more banking options for local TD customers and adds to the growing collection of businesses at Lansdowne Place.

Junior Achievement Northern and Eastern Ontario are looking to connect workers with local farms. T

hey have a pre-apprenticeship training program for the agriculture sector for people ages 15 to 24 to take on paid work placements. Employers are reimbursed up to $250 per week over 8 weeks. If you are interested in getting involved, contact Junior Achievement at ja-neo.org.

Joel Wiebe is moving on from the Chamber of Commerce.

Here’s what he had to say about his departure:

“It has been an honour working with local businesses through the Chamber over the last five years. My next chapter involves working for Alto on the new high-speed passenger rail line planned from Toronto to Quebec City with a stop in Peterborough. It’s a project I’m excited to be a part of. I’ll still be writing the Business Beat for the next couple weeks while we figure out the next steps for this column.”

If you want to have your business featured on the Business Beat or know of a business doing something new and interested, shoot an email to joel@pkchamber.ca.

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Community Futures Peterborough Launches New Strategic Plan and Announces Two New Board Directors

Community Futures Peterborough (CFP) has unveiled its new strategic plan for 2025–2028 and announced its two new board directors at its annual general meeting at Farmhill Weddings.

Photo courtesy of CFP.

“Our vision is clear: every entrepreneur should feel they can access free, expert advice in their own community and every business should feel they can grow and expand here,” said Wayne Harding, CFP board chair. “Our updated strategic plan ensures we are not only meeting today’s needs but preparing for the future of business in Peterborough and defining our role in how to support them.”

Since 1985, CFP’s mission provides entrepreneurs and small businesses with financing, free advisory services and partnerships to strengthen the local economy. Their new plan outlines four key priorities to ensure businesses have the tools, capital and support they need to succeed:

• Increase Awareness of the Business Advisory Centre through targeted outreach and marketing so more entrepreneurs can access expert advice, training, and mentorship.

• Expand Access to Flexible and Inclusive Financing Solutions by enhancing loan programs and exploring new funding models to serve diverse business needs.

• Enhance and Diversify Services by developing new programs in collaboration with partners to respond to emerging trends and community priorities.

• Invest in Organizational Infrastructure by strengthening internal systems, staff capacity, and governance to ensure long-term sustainability.

“Our values are the foundation of our work,” said Devon Girard, CFP executive director. “By continuing to lead with collaboration, inclusivity, and keeping a community-focused approach, we are ensuring every entrepreneur and small business has access to the expert services they need to succeed.”

In 2024, the Province selected Community Futures Peterborough to deliver the region's Small Business Enterprise Centre program (SBEC) – creating one door for businesses and entrepreneurs to access both expert business advisory and planning services, as well as flexible lending options. Delivery of this provincial program provided CFP with the opportunity to reflect on its strategic direction and set a bold vision for its future.

Sherry Hill and Evan Lyons were appointed to the CFP Board of Directors last month. Hill is the current CFO of Peterboro Matboards and Board Secretary of the Kawartha Manufacturers Association and Lyons is the Vice President of Digital, Strategy and Planning & Chief Information Officer at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

“This new strategic plan sets the stage for new voices at our Board table,” said Harding. “We’re thrilled to welcome Sherry and Evan, exceptional leaders in our community, who share our vision for driving business growth in the City of Peterborough and Peterborough County.”

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Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Lakefield Senior Skating, Office Connection Peterborough, Salti Yoga and KO Studio

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

A big shout out to Swish Maintenance and Blue Diamond Window Cleaning for once again sponsoring Seniors Skating at the Ennismore Community Centre.

The Seniors Skating events are every Monday from 1 to 3 p.m. on now through to March 27. Additionally, thanks to Regency Retirement Lakefield on sponsoring the Senior Skating in Lakefield every Tuesday and Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. Their generous sponsorship means skating is free for everyone 55 and older. Swish Maintenance has been Canada’s trusted source for quality cleaning supplies and equipment since 1956. Blue Diamond Window Cleaning has been providing professional window cleaning services for homes and businesses throughout the region since 1987. Regency Retirement is a thoughtfully engineered senior residence to support safe and healthy aging.

Office Connection Peterborough has acquired Kawartha Business Equipment.

This strategic move marks a significant milestone in Office Connection’s continued growth and commitment to delivering exceptional business communication and technology solutions across the Kawartha region. By joining forces, the two companies will combine decades of experience, local expertise, and customer-focused service to better support businesses with enhanced offerings in telecommunications, printing, and mailing.

Salti Yoga is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in downtown Peterborough.

To mark the occasion, they’re hosting a community party on Oct. 17 at their studio at 242 Hunter St. W. Over the last decade, Salti Yoga has introduced thousands of people to hot yoga, aerial yoga, and mindful movement. They have some special deals on as part of the 10-year celebration. Check out Salti Yoga and become a happier and healthier human.

There’s a new beauty hub for him and her in downtown Peterborough.

The KO Studio are now open at 142 Hunter St. W. It is co-owned by Olivene Villapando and Kareem Danial with the vision to create a welcoming, creative, and inspiring space for clients to relax and for beauty professionals to learn and grow. The KO Studio is designed to be more than a salon, it’s a community.

If you want to have your business featured on the Business Beat or know of a business doing something new and interested, shoot an email to joel@pkchamber.ca.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.