A celebration of thinking ‘local’
Dozens of members of Victoria’s independent business community felt both a sense of déja vù and renewed hope for the future at Think Local First’s annual general meeting at the Atrium on April 18.
There were expressions of appreciation for what outgoing president Gayle Robinson of Robinson’s Outdoor Store has accomplished over the past five years, and confidence in her successor, Paul Hadfield of Spinnakers.
During its fifth-anniversary event, the local independent business movement had plenty to celebrate, including growth to the point it has more than 190 members.
“Without having someone willing to step in, we don’t have sustainability so, for me, it’s so exciting having been able to get this point,” said Robinson before passing the torch to Hadfield.
Think Local First, which began with 68 local businesses, has grown to almost three times that amount.
Highlights to date include community education, the implementation of incentives, raising the profile of local businesses and launching the Place-Maker rewards program.
There are currently 21 businesses involved with the program, with 2,044 consumers using rewards cards.
The value of social mixers that provide networking opportunities cannot be underestimated, said Robinson and her successor.
“I wouldn’t know half the people in this room if it wasn’t for Think Local First,” she said. “For most small business owners, we’re so busy running our businesses it’s hard to get out to meet other people.”
One of the non-profit organization’s benefits, said Hadfield, is that it gives local business owners the opportunity to not just reconnect with their peers, but to meet new ones and learn from them.
Authenticity is something that travellers and visitors strive for, and Hadfield said he will encourage local business owners to bring their own perspectives to create that authenticity.
“In Victoria it’s important that we be who we are. We are so fortunate to live in such a magical place, and the opportunity to help others in our community pursue their dreams is something we will work towards.”
A fire last November at his Victoria harbour landmark, Spinnakers Brewpub, was a reminder about the importance of how “everyone is better off when we support each other,” he said.
Hadfield was in Hawaii when he learned about the fire that forced Spinnakers to temporarily close.
“When you lose revenue you still have expenses, so we had to get our revenue back as soon as possible,” he recalled.
“Again, it was about community. Via telephone and through text messaging and emails I was able to do the business I needed to do within 24 hours to extend lines of credit and put our financials in place so we could tell staff that we could carry on very soon.”
Staff continued to be paid and when business returned to normal “they were much more invested,” said Hadfield.
Natasha Crawford, owner of Brown’s the Florist and a Think Local First founding member, spoke about succession planning, using the history of her shop established in 1912 as an example of local empowerment.
“As a business owner, you can choose to sell to a local business owner, or an overseas buyer that will come over and shut your business down, using it as a oneway ticket to get into the country and close it.”
She said she’s grateful the previous owner “chose local” and made a longtime investment that improved the business’s potential stability for another three or four decades.
Crawford said she remembers how when she took the helm 14 years ago, “there were at least a dozen florists in this town” before the era when “you can now get your wedding flowers done at Costco.”
In her speech, Shellie Gudgeon, the former Victoria city councillor whose businesses include Il Terrazzo, spoke about how Think Local First can benefit by focusing more on local residents.
“As a business owner, you should cater to and build relationships with locals,” she said.
“They tell the tourists where to go and eat. When you’re in a seasonal town you still need to pay bills 12 months a year.”
Giving back was the main focus of an address by John Wilson, president and CEO of the Wilson’s Group of Companies, which he said takes pride in supporting community groups.”
“We’re starting to focus more on green initiatives and family — Children’s Health Foundation, things like that,” the Victoriaborn businessman said.
“One thing we’ve learned is we can’t be everything to everyone. As we grew and our give got bigger, the ask got bigger as well.”