Chamber holds business open house at Grand River Raceway

From all appearances, the recent businesses showcase at Grand River Raceway got off to a good start.

On Oct. 17, the paddock building was filled with representatives of upwards of 50 local businesses, from travel agencies to pools to website services to cheerleading.

The Centre Wellington Chamber of Commerce (CWCC) event was held in recognition of Small Business Month.

“It’s great to see the large variety of business and services available in our community,” said CWCC president Janet Harrop.

“You hardly ever need to leave town to find something.”

Estimates of between 120 to 150 members of the public also came through the doors over a three-hour period.

CWCC general manager Roberta Scarrow said, “There was a constant buzz in the room with businesses talking to other businesses and the public coming in and mingling about as well.”

Organizers thanked participating vendors and sponsors  of the event.

The dinner later that night attracted 65 guests and featured guest speaker Terry Davis, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Home Hardware Stores Limited.

Davis told the interesting story of the beginnings of Home Hardware, which started with a humble 300-square-foot warehouse and expanded to include over 113 million square feet of retail space to today.

The following Monday, Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj said, “the comments I got back was that it was a wonderful event and there was great networking with businesses talking to businesses.”

Ross-Zuj considered it a wonderful opportunity and estimated there were over 50 vendors.

“It was another very good day,” she said.