The fall is probably the busiest time of the year for the Old Town Kemptville BIA. With three events happening in the fall including Kreepy Kemptville (Sat. Oct 28th) and Old Town Christmas (Sat. Nov 25th). We’re also organizing the Annual General Meeting, preparing the 2024 BIA Budget and formulating a municipal budget request. We’ve also started working on the 2024 Kemptville Buskerfest which has quickly become one of the premier community events in the region.
Recently, the BIA reached an agreement with a local web design business to help us create a dedicated website for the BIA. We’re still in the initial design stages, but we’re excited about what we’ve seen so far. The website will give the BIA another tool for marketing its activities, promoting tourism in the downtown and will also become a resource for BIA members looking for information about the BIA. We are looking forward to being able to showcase our new website when it’s ready. Stay tuned!
We just finished our Not Just Ladies Night event last Friday night (Sept. 8th). Feedback from visitors and participating businesses has been very positive. Visitors made note of how much they enjoyed the relaxed pace of the event. Businesses appreciated having more time to be able to build a stronger connection with their customers. The tarot card readers, the psychic medium and the reiki master all reported a positive experience and eagerness to join us again.
Recently, the federal government announced a change to the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan repayment deadline of December 31, 2023. A desperate call for delaying the repayment date came from many Canadian small businesses (who had not fully recovered from the negative effects of the pandemic). Led by the efforts of organizations like the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association (OBIAA) representing hundreds of BIAs and thousands of small businesses across Ontario, the federal government backed down and agreed to the change. Not only is the Old Town Kemptville BIA a member of OBIAA, but a representative from our BIA was on the committee that created the materials and messaging for the OBIAA federal government lobbying campaign.
The BIA is currently looking for volunteers to help us create and organize many of the fun community events that many of you enjoy including the Kemptville Buskerfest. If you or someone you know is looking to volunteer or have some great ideas about community events, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at bia@northgrenville.on.ca.
