Our West End Neighbourhood Renewal (OWE) hosted a networking night on February 23, 2016 as part of their new Biz West business engagement program, a program established in partnership with Biz X magazine.
OWE is a program of Life After Fifty and fully funded by the United Way Windsor-Essex. More specifically, OWE is a place-based revitalization strategy in West Windsor that seeks to build capacity for urban renewal. In order to achieve this goal, it is crucial to engage the business community and empower them to be strong, united, and supportive of one another. One way to do this is through creating opportunities for business owners and entrepreneurs to network, building meaningful and sustainable relationships.
The “Biz West Networking Night” was the first attempt to provide an opportunity for relationship building to business owners in West Windsor. The event was hugely successful with over 50 people in attendance and wrapping up well past the end of the event.
“Our West End would like to thank our volunteers for doing so much hard work in helping us prepare for and run the event,” says Meagan Hugall, OWE Outreach Coordinator. “We also want to thank our organizing team — Rock Bottom, Black Bench, Hurricane’s, and West Side Foods, for providing us with space, snacks and coffee tastings.”
The event featured samplings from Colio Winery, Baileys, and Walkerville Brewery. And there were plenty of door prizes from Colio Winery, Voula’s Hair Plus Studio, Nantais Source for Sports, Life After Fifty, Walkerville Brewery, and Rock Bottom . All winners were thrilled to receive a gift certificate or gift basket to take home!
“We would also like to acknowledge Kevin Alexander from the City of Windsor Planning & Building Services Department for being at the event as a resource for business owners, providing them with helpful information about opportunities through Planning & Building Services,” mentions Hugall adding “Deborah Jones and the Biz X team deserve a huge thank you as well for coming out to support us, as well as for coaching us through the organizing process. Finally, the biggest thank you goes out to everyone who came to the event. We hope to see you again at our next one!”
Check out photos from the event by Rod Denis with some of the businesses listed here plus guests in attendance. And keep watching for updates on this initiative on the pages of Biz X magazine!
Photos by Rod Denis – Biz X magazine
