New Stittsville Business Association (SBA) has board of directors in place

Networking event planned for Cabotto’s on February 22

The New Year always brings new things with great enthusiasm and for the SBA it is no different. Last year was a year where business owners alike in Stittsville decided it was time to come together and help each other promote these businesses of Stittsville. With over 400 businesses in the ward many felt lost in the noise and missing significant opportunities that were right in our own backyard.

The journey started with a push for a BIA that was met with some resistance and ultimately died off however from ashes rose a group of incredibly dedicated individuals who wanted to revive the basic theme with an important twist: optional membership with a base fee and more control for the business owners.

Late last year a group of founding members formed to help organize this initiative. The first public event was a breakfast at ALE where approximately 100 business owners and influencers gathered in excitement to discuss the dynamics of moving forward with this group we now know as the SBA.

The founding members have met this year and starting moving forward to forge the path for a successful business association. We are currently incorporating an non-profit organization under the Stittsville Business Association (SBA) banner with plans to roll out this membership based association sometime this year.

With some key positions now in place things should start to move at a much quicker pace. Our board of directors (Lisa Landry of Revera Living, Erica Dwyer of Urban Home Design and Custom Kitchens, Debra Wright of Details Realty Inc., Phil Sweetnam of PCB Sweetnam and Jim Walker of Walkerworks Framing) have already begun to organize the corporation and elect positions.

Wesley Smith of Warmstone Family Dentistry has been appointed as the President and Allan Ryan of Bradley’s Insurance will assume the role of Vice President. Felicia Idone of Cala Custom Woodworks has been chosen to fulfill the role of secretary.

The team is working diligently to define the rest of the roles and also create a timeline for when major milestones will be met.

The core intention of this group is to increase business in Stittsville and give our business owners an amplified voice in the community. Thus networking is an important corner stone of this group’s initiation. So it is important to us that while we construct this group that we continue to hold networking events in the interim to allow business owners to make meaningful connections and seize the opportunity without losing the precious time that is upon us right now.

As a matter of fact we are holding a business networking evening on February 22 from 6-8pm at Cabottos. Tickets are priced at $15 for a drink and appetizers. We strongly encourage all business owners in the area to get out and network but also learn more about this initiative.

Stay tuned…. exciting things are ahead for Stittsville!

 
Wesley Smith
President, Stittsville Business Association