The City of Timmins officially declared next week to be Small Business Week in Timmins.

Members of the small business community will have a chance to shine, showcase their work, network with other business owners, and learn more about running a small business.

Noella Roy, Executive Director of the Downtown Timmins BIA, says the BIA has been partnering with the Timmins Chamber of Commerce to run the week-long event for the past seven years. A lot of the week’s activities are taking place in downtown Timmins, where a lot of small businesses in the city are located.

“We’ve always participated,” Roy said, “and the last three years, we’ve been able to do our awards banquet, which recognizes the small businesses and what they do in the downtown.”

The Downtown Timmins BIA AGM and Awards Banquet takes place on Monday, Oct. 15th at the Porcupine Dante Club. The cost is $20 and the Awards start at 6PM. The event showcases the food of the downtown area and refreshments will be served as awards are distributed. You can register to attend the BIA AGM Awards by emailing staceymartin@downtowntimmins.com, or call 705-264-8733.

“It’s a nice tie-in with all of our partners,” Roy said, “to realize what small business does to the economy of the city of Timmins.”

There are lots of different events taking place next week to celebrate small businesses in town. Each partner for the event, including MNP, Northern College and the TEDC, is doing something different.

“We encourage all of our members to take part in as many of the events as they can,” said Roy, “it’s set up for their benefit, for small businesses, to recognize and to thrive with them and to help educate them a little bit.”

Nancy Mageau, President of the Board for the Timmins Chamber of Commerce, says Small Business Week is for business clients within the community to learn about different topics they may not have been aware of, to help them with their businesses, or give them a second thought about what they’re doing with their businesses to make sure they’re on the right track.

The theme of this year’s Small Business Week is Digitizing, with some education sessions focusing on things like cyber security and the impact technology has on your business. There will also be a technology trade show on Friday, Oct 19th, at Science Timmins at 10AM.

One event the Timmins Chamber has introduced is Pints and Pointers, an event that encourages business owners to network and socialize with other members of the business community at Compass Brewing.

“It’s an opportunity to come in and network,” said Carmen Swartz, Manager of Business Services for the Chamber, “grab a quick tour of the brewery, have a beer and chitchat about maybe what’s impacting your business right now and being able to talk to other business owners.”

The next Pints and Pointers event is on Wednesday, Oct. 17th at Compass Brewing from 4:30PM-6PM.

All of the events happening next week to celebrate small businesses in Timmins are open for the public to attend.

“Anyone can attend,” Mageau said, “if they’re thinking of getting into business, it’s a great opportunity to start seeing what is out there that the Chamber and the BIA, the City and the rest of the community can offer to help them with their business if they’re thinking of even getting into business.”

It’s a big week for the city, especially since small businesses are such an important part of our city’s economy.

“Businesses are important to celebrate in Timmins,” Mageau said, “because they’re kind of a backbone to the economy. Ultimately, in every community you need a small business of some kind to help the community grow. It also helps keep the businesses in the community. As they grow bigger they may go outside that. It’s still a great starting point to help with the business development within the community.”

All the events for next week’s Small Business Week can be found at the Chamber’s event page, here.

For more on the Timmins Chamber and their upcoming events, visit their website here.

For more on the Downtown Timmins BIA, visit their website here.

Filed under: Local News