Local leaders remark on Elgin’s

ELGIN-MIDDLESEX-LONDON Karen Vecchio, MP

We must attract labourers into our communities and assist connecting employees with opportunities to join the workforce.

TOWN OF AYLMER Mary French, Mayor

Entrepreneurs and businesses and in Elgin-MiddlesexLondon continue to respond to challenges and obstacles with innovative and effective solutions. As we emerge from the pandemic and continue to focus on pandemic recovery, businesses in our community are facing the challenges of labour shortages, supply change disruptions and inflation.

Businesses in our region can attest that the major challenge faced by employers continues to be the lack of available workforce. I have met with business owners and local agencies who have indicated the struggle to find labour in their respected industries and the thousands of vacant positions in our region.

Not only has workforce shortages created barriers for businesses, but supply chain disruptions continue to impact businesses and their ability to provide goods and services to customers. Limited access to goods and products has resulted in challenges for many businesses as the economy continues to adjust to our postpandemic economy.

The economy must be a main priority for the federal government as we move into the final quarter of the year.

Canadian businesses continue to suffer with the cost of inflation and the federal government must ensure Canadian companies remain competitive on the international market.

This fall, our municipalities will be welcoming new leadership following the October 24, 2022, municipal elections. I look forward to working with all municipalities and stakeholders in Elgin-Middlesex-London to ensure we are working collaboratively to create prosperity for families and businesses.

The year 2022 has been productive and successful in Aylmer. Much of this success has to do with local businesses that have demonstrated resiliency and perseverance in economically uncertain and challenging times. Despite nation-wide challenges such as rising inflation and continuing supply chain disruptions, I am pleased to see new businesses continue to open their doors and the renewed hustle and bustle of our main street. Aylmer is truly a special community. By supporting locally owned businesses, you are helping to strengthen the economic fabric of where we choose to live, work and play! Council and staff continue to note significant interest in new residential, commercial, and industrial development in town.

This is a sign that the economic and lifestyle advantages of locating in Aylmer are being realized within the development community. We look forward to enabling responsible, strategic growth in Town and enjoying the related positive impacts for local merchants and industry.

Council has prioritized planning for strategic long-term growth in the Town, with key infrastructure projects underway including the replacement of the water storage standpipe, lagoon optimization/ potential expansion and the development of the Aylmer Industrial Manufacturing (AIM) Park. Please continue to shop local and support the great businesses we have in Aylmer!

Our mission for 2022 has been to look ahead; keep our eyes and plans focused forward. It’s been a year of hard work and perseverance for many of our members to begin recovering from the past two years.

A big thank you to those who continue to shop locally and support our downtown merchants. Many of our members have adapted and developed their business to be visible online, offer curbside pick-up, after hours shopping and even delivery. If you are considering shopping elsewhere or online, we hope you will reach out to our local small business community and see what they have to offer or if they are perhaps able to deliver if you are not able to get out of the house. Our downtown merchants are known for going above and beyond for customers to ensure you have what you need. Our Summer COOL BIA dollar program returned this summer and it was another success with dollars selling out in over a week. Watch the newspaper and social media for the launch of our winter COOL BIA dollars! We have also been grateful to have our Spring Shop Hop and plans for our Winter Shop Hop where customers can experience all the amazing shops Aylmer has to offer in the evening. We are excited to see what 2023 will bring! Thank you to everyone who contributed to a successful year and continue to support our local business community. By keeping your business in town, you are supporting local families, businesses, and our local economy.

TOWNSHIP OF MALAHIDE David Mennill, Mayor

of supplies which leads to increased costs because of low supply and high demand.

• We are working toward getting back to normal business practices but there is a lack of personal to fill all the vacancies. Everywhere I look, I see “help wanted” signs. As the Boomer generation retires the problem becomes greater. I believe that immigration and job training will gradually balance the shortage of employees in years ahead.

2022 will be a year to remember for business in Malahide.

The challenges have been many!

• Covid has caused a lack

• Malahide’s biggest industry is agriculture. Input costs such as fuel and fertilizer and spray have doubled from precovid years. Fortunately, the commodity prices have gone up as well, to compensate for the added expense. My hope for 2023 is for Covid to become a distant memory and for business to get back to normal practice where management and employees can both prosper.

This is my last message for an AE special edition, as I am retiring form municipal politics after 26 years. I want to thank council and the community for their support and I want to wish the incoming mayor, Dominique Giguère and the new council, the best of luck managing Malahide Township in the years to come.

ELGIN-MIDDLESEX-LONDON Rob Flack, MPP

that the lifeblood of our economy requires a healthy and growing business sector.

In fact, our government was reelected on a plan that supports businesses – a plan to rebuild Ontario’s economy, a plan to keep costs down, and a plan that keeps our province open. In the upcoming year I will focus on these promises by supporting our local entrepreneurs and their employees.

AYLMER & AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Jamie Chapman, President

Prior to my recent election as MPP for Elgin-MiddlesexLondon, I was the President and CEO of Masterfeeds Inc., a national agribusiness serving livestock and poultry producers. I fully understand

Since our government was elected in 2018,we have passed eight bills to streamline how businesses access government.

We are committed to cutting red tape.

The Ontario government also funds 47 Small Business

Enterprise Centres across the province, one of which is located within our riding in St. Thomas. The SBEC provides vital support for small businesses across the riding. For growing businesses, the Ontario government funds 17 Regional Innovation Centres (locally in London) that help entrepreneurs clear growth and scaling hurdles to reach international markets, especially in the tech industry.

Ontario is open for business, and so is Elgin-MiddlesexLondon. I encourage everyone to reach out to these support networks that are provided by the Ontario government.

The Aylmer and Area Chamber of Commerce has had a successful year to date. In recent months, we have welcomed new members including Inclusive Communities Consulting

MUNICIPALITY OF BAYHAM Ed Ketchabaw, Mayor

residents. Through their generosity and charitable donations, local businesses contribute to the social fabric of our community, and through tax contributions help support the local municipal services expected by a modern society. In turn, our community and its residents provide a reliable workforce, a local marketplace for goods and services, and a positive environment in which to develop commercial opportunities.

In Bayham, we are very proud of our businesses, and very grateful that they have chosen our community from which to operate. Local business is integral to our community. Local entrepreneurial spirit drives our economy and provides employment for our

This past year Bayham was privileged to welcome new business opportunities including Rico’s, Beach Patties, expansions at ETBO, and Legend Rubber, and the emergence of many contractors and trades to support housing construction are but a few of the newer busi- nesses. For the year ahead it seems obvious that supply chain issues, a willing workforce, and interest rate hikes will probably dominate business-owner concerns and activity. These external shocks to local business, though often beyond the reach of local remedy, can be softened by the willingness of local consumers to be there for our local businesses, to support them so that they in turn will be there to support our local community.

“Opportunity is Yours” in Bayham! Let’s all work together to help our local business thrive and thereby improve the quality of life for all our residents.

The businesses in our municipality are very important to the economy of Central Elgin as well as offering great

& Life Skills, Aylmer Performing Arts Council and Kinsmen Club of Aylmer. Although 2022 started off with more of a connection gap, the Chamber is working to reconnect people safely in person. We also continue to lean on our virtual programs and integrations. With the shift to go more virtual, we have raised our profile and connection with our members through social media, e-newsletters, online meetings and correspondence. This has allowed us to create new relationships and assist our members with promoting their goods and services to a wider reach. We continue to utilize our resources with the

Ontario Chamber of Commerce and participate in their weekly Town Hall calls to advocate for small businesses. We look towards 2023 with optimism and hope for a safe, healthy and prosperous year.

We plan to host Business After attractions to the visitors. Many of our businesses are geared to tourism and the county’s CIP program has greatly assisted several of our businesses both agricultural and tourist oriented.

Five events in the new year. Our Chamber is here to support our local business community and have worked hard in a role of facilitators, mediators, advocators, promoters and more. Thank you to the members who continue to support the Aylmer & Area Chamber of Commerce.

We are proud of our business community and all that we have to offer.

It is vital that we work with our businesses as they try to recover from the pandemic closures and get back to a new normal. We have few large businesses but support and encourage them. Paid parking in the whole village of Port Stanley has been an area of contention

Kim Bencich of BReezy’s Boutique in Aylmer did just that, opening a main street womenswear clothing store in July 2020 and, over two years later her vision is doing just fine. She muses, “It was maybe not the wrong time to open a business or the right time, but it has been an interesting time.” Kim decided to get into clothing retail over two years ago, after retiring. “I managed gas stations and Coffee Time franchise for 30 years. And then I needed something to do, and my husband said, ‘Do what you always wanted to do.’”

And, “I’ve always wanted to have a clothing boutique, but 30 years ago I was raising children and it was risky.”

With newfound time, and an available storefront in Aylmer (nearby to grandparents), she figured the timing was right to jump in with both feet. She laughed, “And now I’m spending my retirement working.”

BReezy’s offers women’s clothing, purses, jewellery, and accessories, much of it sourced from Canadian brands, which were popular. “It’s good when you have Canadian companies that you can deal with,” as she noted they were reliable and responsive to order placement and fulfillment.

Kim sat down for an interview with the Express upon her return to work after a few weeks off at the end of summer for a daughter’s wedding in Bulgaria. The store was closed while she was away, a side effect to being an owner and full-time shopkeeper (though sister Marnie helps on occasion – “When I can con her into doing a Saturday for me”).

But being able to make trips like that, on her own schedule was also part of the freedom of owning her own business.

Kim reflected, “It’s a different kind of work, working for yourself. There’s something to be said for that.

“I love coming to work now. I love my customers.”

And helping each of those customers to find just the right piece of clothing or accessory was what she enjoyed the most, and the interactions with store patrons.

“It’s funny, after two years, you say ‘customers’, but they don’t feel like just customers. They feel like your friends when they walk through the door now.”

Personal service

Patrons of the store sometimes knew exactly what they wanted, and other times looked to Kim for advice or guidance, whether it be for a purchase for themselves or a gift.

“One thing about a small town and getting to know your customers is that you get to know whether they want your opinion or not.

“I would rather tell somebody that we can do better or suggest a different color versus them buying something and then getting home and not being happy. I don’t want my clothes sitting in their closet never to be worn. I’d rather them wait for the perfect thing.”

Kim did like a challenge though, the thrill of the hunt. “I love being able to try to find the perfect thing for somebody or the perfect piece if they’re after something. I love searching.” She gave an example, “One lady, she’s very petite. When I was able to find her a pair of jeans, she was ecstatic, and she gave me a big hug.”

Her commitment to current trends and excellent service was the perfect recipe to attract repeat customers and have those wander into the store on referral. “I have a group of ladies that come out from Toronto every season and there’s four of them and they always make the trip to come and visit and shop.”

She said the greatest reward was “making somebody happy, of course.”

In turn, a happy customer brings joy to Kim, “The best is when I see somebody walking by and they have something that I know that they purchased here. I kind of do a little happy dance.”

Wide range of seasonal styles

For inventory management Kim said each season, “I clear it out. I want fresh, I want new. I don’t want it sitting in the store for five years and I honestly just don’t have the room for it. “

She noted that Covid shutdowns, especially right after the holidays last year, made it challenging to clear out stock.

She got creative and did online videos showing others at home what was available in the store, so then customers could place an order and pick up the items to take home. She said that was popular, though was glad to have everyone back in the store – it’s important to see and try on clothes to “see the design and feel the fabric.”

Longer, cozy but chic Stockport jackets were popular and keeping them in stock was a challenge. Too, Carreli Jeans, from Montreal were a hot seller.

For fall and into winter, she said trends were leaning towards bright colours—blues, purple and pinks—as well as for jeans to be boot cut or wider styles.

One thing that surprised her was the demand for pull-up jeans, recalling a story from when she first opened the store:

“Carreli Jeans sent me four different colors in the pull-up jeans, and I sent them all back because I thought that they were maternity pants, and wondered, who wanted those? And then sure enough, soon as I sent them back, I had customers coming in saying, ‘Oh, I heard you have pull-up jeans.’ So, I get on the phone and said get those back here.

“In the summertime, the white pull-up jeans were my number one best seller. I honestly could not keep those in the store.”

She laughed, “And then I tried a pair on, and they were actually great.”

That caused her to reflect on the advantage to shopping in person, “You know, honestly, everything looks different when it’s on a body. You look at something and you think, ‘Oh, I would never wear that.’ Then you put it on, and it completely changes.”

She noted it was getting a little harder to ensure inventory for coming seasons and planning was important. “If you don’t pre-book a year ahead for the season, I may not get anything. I can’t just go online and find it as easy.”

Some producers also only made enough for a first shipment, so restocks weren’t always an option, whereas it had previously been quite simple to call up a supplier and order a few more pieces of a popular item. With that in mind, Kim warned any wavering shoppers, “If you see something or if there’s a sweater that you love, you should grab it.”

While she said summer was her busiest season, Kim said she was looking forward to this holiday season— hopefully with no public health restrictions—to see what a more normal year was like.