The Downtown Renfrew Business Improvement Area is looking at how it can help growth in town.
Vice Chair Ben Oakes led the BIA’s Annual General Meeting at Town on Monday, March 27th, as the group approved it’s $65,000 budget for 2023 which includes beautification projects for the downtown strip as well as festivals and events, administration costs, and promotion.
Oakes notes that they’re working with the Town on a review of the BIA and its By-Laws as they prepare for the upcoming Highway 417 expansion, which is expected to bring increased traffic for local businesses.
Renfrew’s Economic Development Officer Dan Laverdure joined the meeting as one of two guest speakers. He says that getting the Town and BIA on the same page again is important so that the incoming infrastructure to accommodate the new 4-lane Highway meets everyone’s needs.
Part of those changes could include expanding the BIA boundaries to let more businesses have a voice, an idea that both Laverdure and Oakes suggested would be entertained as the Town prepares to reveal the results of their review at the April 11th Council meeting.
Mayor and Council Representative Tom Sidney spoke in favour of the idea, suggesting that inviting businesses from along Veterans Memorial Boulevard and O’Brien Road would allow the BIA to look into projects like beautification on more main roads in town while also lessening the financial impact on smaller BIA members.
Oakes says his hope is that members continue to advocate for businesses who weren’t represented on Monday even if the BIA’s boundaries are not expanded, something which will be made much easier this year thanks to a full slate of 9 nominees to fill all 9 positions on the BIA’s Board of Directors.
Also on hand as a guest speaker was Cyndy Phillips of the Renfrew County Community Futures Development Corporation, who explained the role of Community Futures as a federally funded organization that offers financing to small-to-medium sized rural businesses and often providing help in situations where normal avenues for financial backing such as banks would not.
(written by Kasey Egan)