Downtowns, BIAs & Municipalities

Parry Sound DBA, Parry Sound, On
Strategic Plan

In parternship with OBIAA, we injected some much-needed enthusiasm back into the community as we began the strategic planning process. Getting stakeholders re-ignited and excited in their downtown was rewarding. There have been many studies done in Parry Sound so understanding the climate was integral to helping them move forward.  During a process such as this, it’s important to engage all the stakeholders, provide governance and impart knowledge to the Board and then create final documentation that is agile, practical and helpful to the organization. This group has renewed enthusiasm and excitement toward their downtown and the opportunities that the Vision and Plan provided. Their Board and Staff better understand the value of the BIA and that they can have both impact and influence over the success of their downtown. They have forged stronger relationships with and in the community, taken a stronger leadership role and now, as a result, they have created a new Brand and Marketing plan for the DBA.

Kleinburg BIA
Operations Help

After a request for disbandment some years ago, the Kleinburg BIA reached out for help. As a team, we are working toward helping them re-structure their events model, increase their value to their membership, communicate internally and externally more effectively, find their voice at City Hall – we are basically helping them re-write their story. We are excited that we continue to work with this great organization. This group better understands their role and influence in the community. They are now having fun at the Board meetings and have learned to work together. Together, we developed a new mission for the BIA and created a medium-term plan for they can better reach their goals. We have found them more than $12,000 in HST rebates - they have learned a lot and so have we!

Downtown Summit, Parry Sound & Coldwater, On
Facilitation

“Let’s get together more often, share ideas and network.” Sound familiar? This was the impetus for working with BIA’s and Main Streets in Ontario’s near-north from Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Coldwater, Parry Sound and others. At their request, we have twice coordinated and facilitated a Downtown Day - a chance to share ideas and best practices! We love to do this because we all learn and feel more creative when we share ideas!

International Village BIA, Hamilton, On
Program Review

Does your BIA need a new mission for your Board members? Do you need to re-structure your budget and program to better suit your needs? Sometimes you just need someone with a different perspective. That’s what we did with this dynamite group – we had fun doing it and now they have a better understanding of their short-term direction. They have even found the money to hire extra help! Win!

Barton Village BIA, Hamilton, On
Mission Statement

Creating a mission statement is a quick and easy process and is a good chance for your board members to work together to create a common vision. Barton Street Board members wanted a chance to ‘get on the same page’ by working with us to create a community vision.

Town of Tillsonburg, Tillsonburg, On
Retail Gap Analysis/business recruitment

A team project with John Archer from 360 Collective, the Town of Tillsonburg wanted to better understand the gaps in their retail environment within the downtown. Before you can identify the gaps, you must first perform an audit to study the current retail environment. What is the retail square footage? What kinds of businesses are currently in your downtown? How many vacancies are there? Then – what kinds/sizes of businesses do we still need. This is important information when recruiting businesses and trying to fill vacant storefronts.

City of Hamilton, Hamilton, On
BIA Retail Strategies

Working in tandem with John Archer, 360 Collective, we created Retail Strategies for the following Hamilton BIAs; Downtown Hamilton, International Village, Westdale Village, Main Street West, Waterdown, Dundas, Barton Street, King Street West, Concession Street. A retail strategy involves stakeholder engagement, retail audits, photo audits, working closely with the Board of Directors, examining census and neighbourhood data as well as reviewing City building applications. The Strategy is meant to give a snapshot of the current business environment and look ahead to help the BIA plan for their future. We loved working with the team over the course of 2.5 years to get this big job done!

Sew Hungry, Food Truck Rally
Events

The restaurant and food culture in the Ottawa Street, BIA in Hamilton was definitely lacking excitement! In homage to the textile history of the street, we created Sew Hungry food truck rally to get people talking about food! Not only did we grow the event to host 37 trucks and 40,000 people, we won a National Economic Development award for our efforts. This was the first event of it’s kind and grew to be Canada’s largest public Food Truck and Restaurant Rally. We were most excited that within 3 years, 3 of the food truck entrepreneurs opened bricks and mortar restaurants on the Street. The food culture is thriving there today with many new exciting restaurants - our original goal for the event!

Bronte Village, Oakville, On
Strategic Plan

We all understand the value of planning. Bronte Village wanted to plan for their future so they could create efficiencies for their staff and set a vision for the Board for their term in office. We love when strategic plans are creative environments and achieve results for our clients: “Thank you both again for your assistance today. I believe it definitely helped.”

Ottawa Street BIA, Hamilton, On
Community Development

The Ottawa Street BIA had a 46% vacancy rate and the area was devoid of investment and energy. For 20 years, I was the Executive Director of this dynamic BIA. We saw the resurgence of both the commercial and residential community, a 2 % vacancy rate, an effective Board, strong planning, invested stakeholders, a nationally renowned event and a strong reputation for a healthy and prosperous business environment.

Small Businesses

Padgett Business Services, Hamilton, On
Marketing & Support

We are thrilled to be working with this client on an on-going basis. We support her business needs whatever they may be. We provide Marketing expertise, have created her new website and a new path for advertising her business thanks to the brilliance of Chris Farias from Unicorn Rebellion. Business owners need to feel supported in their endeavours – they usually need a champion and a cheerleader and that’s what we do!

Showtime Fragrances, Hamilton, On
Project Management

Sometimes, City processes can be confusing and small business owners can feel unable to take on additional projects. We helped this business navigate the grant process to improve the façade of his building and managed the 125,000 renovation to the exterior of his store. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome!

Nova Sewing, Hamilton, On
Grants/Applications

When applying for the City grant process takes you out of your business, you hire Page By Page Consulting to do it for you! We love working with small businesses – just knowing that we’ve made their day easier is so rewarding!

Speaking Engagements

Hamilton & District Chamber of Commerce
HIVEX

This is a creature of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and is the largest young professional conference in the Golden Horseshoe area. They gather over 300 young professionals, community members and city leaders while engaging in topics on city development, personal growth, urban issues, politics and more.

“Why is Gentrification A Bad Word?” was our topic. We role-played the interconnections in our community, how money and information exchanges hands and the importance of keeping a neighbourhood healthy. How do we do all of this and at the same time, ensure we are creating communities for all. This fun and engaging presentation looks at the importance of this modern-day question.

City of Hamilton, Economic Development
Do Financial Incentives Stimulation Urban Renewal?

In Economic Development circles, many Municipalities offer CPIG grants or other financial incentives, the City of Hamilton included me in a panel discussion to help the audience better understand how financial incentives can help businesses and downtowns thrive and the role they can play in contributing to the revitalization of communitie