Norfolk County’s Economic Development department heard local business owners loud and clear.
In a recent Business Visitation Program, residents told staff they would benefit from a monthly workshop series covering a variety of topics.
As a result, Norfolk County’s 2019 Workshop Series began in January on the topic of Succession Planning and continued in February by chronicling Tax Tips for Small Business.
The series continues in March with All You Need to Know About Exporting and Government Incentive Programs to follow in April.
“I thought the seminars were excellent,” said Gail Bouw, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Canada in Norfolk.
“It had really good detail, it didn’t go on with information you didn’t need. I thought it went the perfect amount of time. You go in and touch base on a lot of stuff.”
Bouw has taken part in both seminars thus far and plans on attending more in the future.
Anita Buehner, owner of Bonnieheath Estate Lavender and Winery near Bloomsburg, has done the same. Buehner says she would “absolutely, highly recommend” the seminars to her fellow business operators in the area.
“The content was what I was looking for,” said Buehner, who owns the business alongside her husband Steve. “The first one I attended had a great crowd, excellent speakers, (it was) just really well done.”
Buehner went on to say the workshops cover themes of great importance to the county’s business owners.
“There’s a lot of needs in the community and addressing them in a forum like that, I think, is pretty effective,” Buehner said. “I’m certainly looking forward to the one in May.”
When it comes to exchanging ideas, Buehner said there is a “wealth of knowledge in our own community … There’s some great resources that not only we can benefit from but we can share with our community partners as well.”
All workshops take place at Venture Norfolk (4077 Hwy 3 East, Simcoe).
To register for upcoming workshops, log onto norfolkbusiness.ca/workshops or call 519-426-9497. All sessions are free to the public and Norfolk County staff welcomes suggestion for future topics.
