businessNOW™ is the most comprehensive weekly round-up of business and organizational news and events from Peterborough and across the Kawarthas.
The week’s edition features Peterborough’s Green Bamboo Publishing translating a children’s book into all nine indigenous languages of the Northwest Territories to raise funds for the Northwest Territories SPCA, OPSEU Local 362 purchasing $10,000 in Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area gift certificates, Pedal ‘n’ Paddle in Peterborough permanently closing, Jo Anne’s Place on Water Street in Peterborough reopening, META4 Gallery in downtown Peterborough reopening with books from Hunter Street Books, and other notable business news from across the Kawarthas.
This week’s events include the Peterborough Chamber’s virtual breakfast meeting featuring Central Smith Creamery on June 9th, the Innovation Cluster’s virtual power breakfast on COVID-19 recovery on June 12th, and the Innovation Cluster’s virtual workshop on COVID-19 lessons for business on June 16th.
Peterborough’s Green Bamboo Publishing to translate children’s book into all nine indigenous languages of Northwest Territories
Peterborough’s Green Bamboo Publishing, founded by Trent University alumnus Jasmine Cabanaw, is translating a children’s book into all nine indigenous languages of the Northwest Territories — the first time this has been done for a book of its kind.
The English version of Kindness Is… was written by Simone Tielesh and illustrated by her husband Aidan Cartwright in 2017. The couple donated the rights to the book to the Northwest Territories SPCA (NWT SPCA), where they both volunteer, as a fundraising product.
Kindness Is… teaches children and adults alike the importance of compassion, kindness, and empathy through a series of common but important examples of responsible pet ownership.
The book is best suited for children up to the age of five and is written in a cheerful style that is relatable and fun.
The illustrations are bright and colourful, using high contrast imagery, and have a unique feature — the fur for each illustrated dog is from a photograph of a real dog from the NWT SPCA.
“Our northern animals and our northern peoples are important to the NWT SPCA,” says Dana Martin of the NWT SPCA. “It brings great joy to help kids learn about kindness while also helping to strengthen and preserve the traditional languages. Kindness Is… becomes a bridge that joins together the different peoples of the North, giving rise to a stronger community with common goals.”
The first two translations of Kindness Is… — into the Inuit language Inuktitut and the Dene language Tłı̨chǫ — are planned to be released on Sunday, June 21st in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day, with the next seven translations to follow within the next year. Included in every book are the English version of the original poem, information about the indigenous language, and a map of the official languages of NWT.
The book launch of Kindness Is… on National Indigenous Peoples Day, will encourage children of all backgrounds to honour indigenous cultures and participate in kind and responsible pet ownership. The main activity of the book launch will be storytelling, which has long played an important role in indigenous cultures. There will be virtual readings that parents and children all across Canada can access on June 21st. There will also be a colouring contest and books available to purchase online.
More activities for the launch will be announced on the Green Bamboo Publishing Facebook page leading up to the event.
Kindness Is… retails for $10 on the Green Bamboo Publishing website at greenbamboopublishing.com, and is also available for purchase online at sites such as Amazon, Indigo, and Walmart. All proceeds go to NWT SPCA.
OPSEU Local 362 purchases $10,000 in Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area gift certificates
A local chapter of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is supporting independent businesses in downtown Peterborough by purchasing $10,000 worth of “downtown money” (gift certificates) from the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) for use by their members.
“We have been getting a lot of support from our community through this crisis,” says Peterborough DBIA executive director Terry Guiel. “We’ve had a lot of sales of downtown mMoney over the last couple months and we want to give a big thank you to OPSEU Local 362 for supporting our local businesses.”
OPSEU Local 362 represents around 600 workers at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, working at Robinson Place in downtown Peterborough, Trent University, Balsam Lake Provincial Park, Darlington Provincial Park, Emily Provincial Park, and Harwood Fish Culture Station.
OPSEU Local 362 will be distributing the gift certificates to their members when employees return to their work sites. The gift certificates can be redeemed at any of the participating downtown Peterborough businesses and organizations.
Downtown money can be purchased in $25 and $50 increments from the Peterborough DBIA by calling 705-748-4774 or emailing info@downtownptbo.ca.
Pedal ‘n’ Paddle in Peterborough has permanently closed
Pedal ‘n’ Paddle in Peterborough has permanently closed.
The recreational business, which ran out of the Boat House below the Silver Bean Cafe in Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough, announced the closure on their Facebook page on Tuesday (June 2).
Pedal ‘n’ Paddle was started by Lloyd Graham and expanded in 2017 when Moe Grant joined as a partner. The business rented kayaks, canoes, bicycles, and paddle boats and offered “river run adventures”.
Hello Peterborough! It's a bittersweet announcement yet; Pedalnpaddle has closed for good. It's been a great ride! It is…
Posted by Pedal'n'Paddle on Tuesday, June 2, 2020
The business was already temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Graham and Grant decided it was too difficult to run the service while maintaining physical distancing requirements, according to the Facebook post.
Jo Anne’s Place on Water Street in Peterborough reopens
Health food store Jo Anne’s Place has reopened its location at 904 Water Street North in Peterborough on Tuesday (June 2).
The same COVID-19 safety protocols in place at the store’s other locations in Peterborough and Lindsay have been implemented at the Water Street location. These include limiting the number of customers in the store, enforcing physical distancing, and adhering to a strict cleaning schedule.
The Water Street location is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
Jo-Anne’s Place also offers curbside pickup or delivery through their website at joannesplace.ca.
META4 Gallery in downtown Peterborough reopens with books from Hunter Street Books
META4 Contemporary Craft Gallery in downtown Peterborough reopened, with reduced hours, for in-person shopping last Wednesday (May 27) — and is now selling books from Hunter Street Books.
Michelle Berry, owner of Hunter Street Books, announced on May 19th that she was closing her physical store at 164 Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough, which she first opened in October 2016.
Although she has now closed the physical store, Berry continues to operate her online store at hunterstreetbooks.com. She offers free delivery in Peterborough, or pick-up at META4 Gallery, which is located two doors down from the book store’s former location.
META4 is also offering shelves of books personally curated by Berry, for those who prefer to browse in person. Owners Jennifer Hardie, Birgitta MacLeod, and Bonnie Thomson have implemented changes to address health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, including providing hand sanitizer at multiple locations in the store, a Plexiglas barrier at the sales counter, new directions for traffic flow, and tap payment functions. They will also be cleaning and sanitizing regularly.
META4 Gallery’s new hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. For more information, visit www.meta4gallery.ca.
Other notable business news from across the Kawarthas
- Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) has launched a new online portal for businesses recovering from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at peterboroughed.ca/recovery. The website provides resources and information to help local business mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.
- PKED is also launching the region’s first annual count of businesses on Monday, June 15th. Between June and September, PKED will be conducting a brief voluntary business count, which will be offered through an online platform and conducted over the phone. The data collected will be used to inform the organization’s decisions and programming efforts to support business, and to disseminate information about programs and funding in the future. It will also be used in part to generate an up-to-date business directory for PKED and will be shared with partner municipalities, when agreed upon by businesses.
- Two online resources are available for businesses in Peterborough and Kawarthas Lakes looking for personal protective equipment (PPE) as they reopen. Team Kawartha Lakes — which includes Kawartha Lakes Economic Development, chambers of commerce in Kawartha Lakes, and more — has created a list of local PPE suppliers in Kawartha Lakes and the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce has launched the Peterborough PPE Retail Hub.
- The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario is offering free membership to the entire tourism industry in Ontario for 2020. For more information and to become a member, visit tiaontario.ca/cpages/membership.
- The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is offering the Small Business Relief Fund, providing $10,000 grants to 62 Canadian for-profit businesses to help their recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants can be used for salaries, the purchase of personal protective equipment for workers, replenishing materials, or funding new business models. To be eligible, a business must belong to a chamber of commerce, board of trade, or association that is a member of the Canadian Business Resilience Network, must have between two and 50 employees, must have been in business for two years, and must have an annual revenue between $150,000 and $5 million. Applications will be accepted until June 12, 2020. For more information and to apply, visit canadianbusinessresiliencenetwork.ca/smallbusinessrelieffund/.
Peterborough Chamber hosts virtual breakfast meeting with Central Smith Creamery on June 9
The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce is hosting a virtual Chamber AM with Central Smith Creamery from 8 to 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9th.
Central Smith Creamery owners Ian and Jillian Scates will be the guest speakers.
The free virtual event will take place on the Zoom video conferencing platform. To register, visit web.peterboroughchamber.ca/events/VirtualChamberAM with Central Smith Ice Creamery-722/details.
Innovation Cluster hosts virtual power breakfast on COVID-19 recovery on June 12
The Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas, in partnership with Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development, is hosting a virtual power breakfast from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 12th.
Facilitated by Leo Bonato, deputy division chief at the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C., the session will provide insight into how COVID-19 is having a growing impact on the global economy and financial structure and what that means. The session is intended to provide business leaders, thought leaders and startups with a perspective on the evolving situation and its implications.
The free virtual event will take place on the Zoom video conferencing platform. To register, visit eventbrite.com/e/power-breakfast-global-impacts-and-covid-19-recovery-with-the-imf-tickets-104987847478.
Innovation Cluster hosts virtual workshop on COVID-19 lessons for business on June 16
The Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas is hosting “Hands-ON: The Importance of Crash Testing your Business on Paper” from 12 to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16th.
Facilitated by Adam McInroy, associate consultant of IG Wealth Management, the workshop will help business owners looking to reopen their businesses to reflect on the lessons that COVID-19 has taught us and to play through some “what if” scenarios.
The free virtual event will take place on the Zoom video conferencing platform. To register, visit eventbrite.com/e/hands-on-the-importance-of-crash-testing-your-business-on-paper-tickets-105287405464.
For more business-related events in the Kawarthas, check out our Business Events column.
