Peterborough’s Business Hall of Fame will grow this spring by 14 inductees representing nine entrepreneurial success stories that are as inspiring as they are worthy of celebration — including kawarthaNOW’s own Jeannine Taylor.
On Wednesday (January 17) at VentureNorth in downtown Peterborough, Junior Achievement of Northern and Eastern Ontario (JA-NEO) revealed the class of 2024 before a large gathering comprised of supporters, business leaders, and politicians.
Junior Achievement chancellor Allan Hill, the owner of multiple Domino’s Pizza outlets in the Peterborough area, welcomed the new inductees.
The 2024 inductees, in alphabetical order, are:
- Tim Barrie (Merit Precision Limited)
- John Cunningham (Community Alternative, Ashburnham Funeral Home, Kawartha Aquamation)
- Gwyneth James (Silverthorn Management Consulting, formerly of Cody and James Chartered Professional Accountants)
- Richard Labelle (The UK Shoppe)
- Jill and Robert Staples (Staples Maple Syrup)
- Jeannine Taylor (kawarthaNOW)
- Nicole Truman (Fox Law Professional Corporation)
- Cora Whittington (Golden Pathways Coaching, Facilitation Retreat and B&B)
- Andrew Winslow, Chris Winslow, Mike Winslow, Steve Gerolamy, and Tom Gerolamy (Winslow Gerolamy Motors Limited)
This ninth class of inductees will be formally inducted Thursday, May 23rd at The Venue in downtown Peterborough.
Overwhelmed by his induction was Labelle who said, as an entrepreneur, operating your own business means “you’ve got to live it, eat it, breathe it 24 hours a day,” adding “It’s the only way you survive.”
“I’m still in shock,” he said of his induction.
“Part of me is asking ‘What are you doing here?’ I’ve worked retail since I was 15 years old. I never thought I would see something like this happen to me. It’s crazy.”
“There are different levels of business — we’re one of the smaller ones,” Labelle added. “I hope people can learn from this, kids especially, that you have stick with it. You have to do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. I haven’t one day in 16 years where I woke up and thought ‘Oh god, I’ve got to go down there (to the store).”
Not lost on Labelle is the support his business has received from the community.
“The number of people that have come into the shop for years. We know them all by name — we know their kids, we know their parents. I had a guy come into the shop two summers ago. He said ‘Do you remember me? My parents used to bring me in here when I was a kid. He would have been about 10 (years old) when I opened the shop.”
Taylor, who as publisher founded quidnovis.com in April 1996 and rebranded the platform as kawarthaNOW.com in 2009, says she’s particularly delighted to be part of an induction class that features five women.
“It is humbling, particularly in this case because a group of women got together to nominate another group of women,” she said. “There are more women at the podium this year. That’s humbling for all of us. It’s nice to see something closer to parity.”
Reflecting on late 1995 when she started researching for the business model, Taylor recalled “surfing the internet for the first time ever.”
“It’s nice to have people pay attention to the fact that we’ve been around for 27 years and that we were the first (digital media platform in Peterborough and the Kawarthas), and that I’m a female publisher,” Taylor said. “We’ll talk about those things today — and then go back to work because we probably have a deadline.”
Asked if she considers herself an inspiration to young people looking at entrepreneurship as a career aspiration, Taylor said not so much initially but she’s learned with time that her example does matter.
“Women are paying attention, and particularly younger women. They need to see female role models. It’s really important that that’s happening.”
Jill Staples, meanwhile, admitted to her and her husband Robert’s induction being “a big surprise.”
“There has been a lot of people who have come over the years to ask Bob for advice — what’s worked and what hasn’t worked,” said Jill.
Looking ahead to the formal induction ceremony, Jill said they “don’t what to expect. We’ve never been at anything like that.”
JA-NEO president and CEO John McNutt, who oversaw the event from the podium, said the annual recognition is important because it shows young people “there’s something out there” for them and it’s close to home.
“My own kids, a bunch of years ago, had to leave Peterborough to get a job. Well, here are some examples of what’s in our community. They (the inductees) represent everything that’s good about a community.”
McNutt says the latest additions to the Business Hall of Fame brings the total number inducted to past 70.
Nominations for this induction closed in late November and inductions selection process began shortly after.
Anyone nominated this year but not chosen will again be considered for possible induction in 2025.
Also on hand in the crowd for Wednesday’s reveal were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferreri, Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clarke, and Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal. Former Peterborough mayor Paul Ayotte, who has long been associated with Junior Achievement, also took in the proceedings.
