Looking towards Barrhaven's future-- BIA striving for sustainable employment-based business growthBy Jennifer McIntosh Stephen Bent — a member of the Barrhaven Business Improvement Area’s (BBIA) Barrhaven Economic Sustainability Team (BEST), outlined the executive plan on attracting employment-based business to Barrhaven at the annual general meeting on Oct. 26. “We are going to be continuing the work of the 2008-09 market research study,” he said. “It is really a two-pronged approach, looking at creating a sustainable economy and employment base.” Bent said a study of the Barrhaven’s home-based businesses should be done by November. BBIA chair Ken Ross said the New Year could mean new boundaries for the BBIA as they look to include some of the businesses not currently under the organization’s umbrella. “We want to keep Barrhaven moving forward,” Bent said. Some of the initiatives include signage branding Barrhaven businesses and a business directory which will be handed out to RCMP employees. The first wave of employees have already moved into the new headquarters in the South Merivale Business Park, with more expected to be on the way by January. MARKETING Patrick Creppin, chair of the marketing and communications committee, said that the executive has been working on some audio and visual technology to allow people to attend meetings virtually. The committee also plans to continue a quarterly newsletter. Coming up will be planning for the Nov. 15 Santa Claus parade and a shopping spree contest expected for April. “We really want to bring people out from the outlying areas,” Creppin said. “We plan on running full page ads for Christmas to get people from Kemptville and Manotick to come and do their holiday shopping here.” SECURITY Victor Tsang, a member of the security committee, said an information night with local police officers about community safety and crime prevention is planned for the coming months. He also said that participation in the graffiti removal program has really worked at bringing down the incidents. “We have a company that is getting rid of the graffiti in a manner of days, so that means the perpetrators are moving on to other neighbourhoods,” he said. “So that’s good for us.” The message of the annual general meeting is that the BBIA is still managing to operate with a reserve in funding and that Barrhaven’s future looks bright. “For the last year or so we have all heard the messages that the economy is in a downturn,” Bent said. “But I think we have seen and will continue to see, an amazing amount of growth in Barrhaven.” -- 30--
|
