On the evening of Monday November 22, the BIA hosted the Old Town Kemptville BIA Annual General Meeting. The meeting was a virtual one with several guests and members joining via Microsoft Teams and was chaired by BIA Board Chair Meagan Cumming.
The meeting began with words of welcome from Mayor Nancy Peckford. Following the Mayor, three guests gave presentations to the attendees in areas of interest to the BIA.
Kay Matthews, Executive Director of the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association (OBIAA), gave a comprehensive presentation on the value of BIAs (ROI) and their overall impact on the local, provincial and national economies.
Harry Bennett, Chair of the 2022 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM) Committee, gave a presentation on what to expect, and some general information on the IPM, which will be coming to Kemptville (along with potentially up to 75,000 people) in September of 2022.
Mark Guy, Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture for the Municipality of North Grenville, gave a presentation on the plans for the expansion of the facilities of Riverside Park in 2022. The addition of an outdoor skating rink, four-season change rooms and a community splash pad were among the highlights.
The meeting proceeded with BIA Board Chair, Meagan Cumming, giving the Annual Report on the activities of the BIA over the past year. BIA Board Treasurer, Sierra Jones, gave the financial report and presented the proposed draft BIA budget for 2022 for review by the attendees. BIA Executive Director, Deron Johnston, followed with an oral report on the work of the Programming and Marketing Committee, including a breakdown of the Committee’s portion of the BIA budget.
The meeting finished with BIA Board Vice Chair, Will Pearl, thanking all of the volunteers, municipal staff and partners for their contributions to a successful year. He also thanked the meeting attendees, including the presenters, for their informative presentations.
For the reader: BIA (Business Improvement Association), ROI (Return on Investment)
