by Stuart Harrison
Monday, September 27, 2004

Welcome to the Business Beat.

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New home for Taoist Tai Chi Society

You may have seen some activity at the former Shoppers Drug Mart store on Charlotte Street. The building has been purchased by the Taoist Tai Chi Society of Canada and will become their new home. Branch leader Lynn Taylor is excited about having a permanent home, after 28 years as a tenant in Peterborough. The Society offers classes over a wide area from Cobourg to Campbellford to Haliburton, as well as at several locations around Peterborough. "Now we can assist many more people with a much broader range of health conditions," says Taylor.

For more information on their class schedule call 748-2433, or try online at http://www.nexicom.net/~ttcs.

New online magazine

While you are online you might want to have a look at a new online magazine called The Patch ... yes as in "Peterpatch"!  Founder Jason Roach describes the website as a unique creative arts and culture online magazine, where you'll find everything from oil paintings by Lucas Werger, to a new local band named Money Money, to astrology by Roderick Benns and Joli Scheidller-Benns, to the humour of Rose Bergeron.

Check it out at www.peterpatch.ca or call 705-750-0013 for more information.

Home furnishings

Décor Treasures is a new store just north of the corner of the Buckhorn Road (County Road 23) and the Bridgenorth Road (County Road 18). Owner Linda Dunford has put together a real variety of home furnishings both new and refurbished. You'll find tables, breakfast nooks, boxes, end tables, coffee tables, mirrors, dining sets, leather chairs, as well as statues, vases, crystal, lanterns and stoneware.

Décor Treasures is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 am - 5 pm. For more information, call 705-652-0639.

Kawartha Farmfest

Kawartha Farmfest -- the big annual farm tour over in the City of Kawartha Lakes -- is on this weekend (October 2 and 3). There are 10 new sites this year, plus several favourites from last year. Sites include the Kawartha Lakes Trout Farm, and a solar-powered (off-the-grid) home just west of Norland. Your five-dollar button gets you two days of food and fun, and an opportunity to tour numerous agriculture operations in the area. You'll find alpacas, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, eagles and owls, and you can eat cheese, burgers, pork, sausages and home baked specialties.

Buttons are available at all host sites, and you can get more information online at kawarthafarmfest.com, or by calling 705-324-9411, ext 208.

Business trade show

October is a very busy month for small business events. Prosperity 2004 is a major Business To Business Trade Show sponsored by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. The date is October 6 from 10 am - 6 pm. The exhibitor booths are sold out, there is a full workshop/seminar series every hour on the hour, and the admission is free with your business card.

Special guest speaker for the noon seminar is former Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin. It's a big show, with a big door prize - a Big Screen TV sponsored by Kawartha TV and Stereo and Trent Security Systems. Seminar topics include: 9 am - Networking with Ron Downey, 10 am - Voice Over IP with Doug Atkins, 11 am - Top Ten Website Essentials with Jeannine Taylor, Noon - Brian Tobin, 1 pm - Attracting The Perfect Client with Cora Whittington, 2 pm - Getting Good PR with Jane Davidson, and 3 pm - Let It Show! Getting your retail store ready for Christmas with Donna Geary.

Check out www.prosperity2004.ca for more information.

Business workshops

The Business Advisory Centre offers a series of Workshops. There are various costs and start times, but the dates and topics are October 7 for Tax Tips & Write Offs, October 13 for Insurance Issues, October 27 for PST/GST Seminar, October 4, 11, 18, and 25 for a new Networking Hour, and the annual Bridges To Better Business event runs Thursday, October 21 from noon till 6 pm.

Call Heather at the Business Advisory Centre for more information at 705-743-0777 ext 225, or see the details online at www.gpaedc.on.ca.

Linday Small Business Week Breakfast

The annual Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce Small Business Week Breakfast features Jack Bingleman, retired President of Staples International and former resident of the Lindsay area, who will share his experience and views on retail at the international, national and local levels. Among other things, he will talk about the impact of big box retail on a small market and how a small market should react to big retail. The Small Business Week Breakfast will take place on Tuesday, October 19th at the Moose Lodge in Lindsay. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m. with Bingleman's keynote presentation to begin at 8 a.m. Tickets will be $20.00 and available at the Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce.

The Small Business Week Breakfast will complement the other events taking place in the City of Kawartha Lakes during the week, namely the Kawartha Lakes Home & Consumer Show, Innovation Awards and other seminars and workshops. More information can be found at www.lindsaychamber.com. Or call Amy Terrill at 705-324-2393.

Peterborough Business Excellence Awards

And the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce presents the inaugural Peterborough Business Excellence Awards on October 20 at the Parkway Centre. Tickets are selling fast, so get in touch with Anne Arnold at 705-748-9771 for more information.

If you have a new business, renovation, or otherwise hot tip, send your business news by email.

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