Southwest Business Expo fosters entrepreneurial growth

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This article was published 02/02/2022 (1587 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Local entrepreneurs are stepping up to prove new businesses can thrive given the tools gained from attending the Southwest Business Expo.

Tiffany Cameron, the economic development officer of the RM of Wallace-Woodworth, is one of several people overseeing the expo. It’s a two-day event held in partnership with the RMs of Wallace-Woodworth, Grassland, Pipestone, Souris-Glenwood, Deloraine-Winchester and the towns of Melita and Virden.

New businesses can prepare for a pitch competition on the first day, followed by a keynote address, trade show and various display booths on the second day. These activities allow like-minded entrepreneurs to network with each other and connect with business resources.

“It’s sort of our southwest Manitoba version of Dragon’s Den, so to speak,” Cameron said.

At the pitch competition, people can present their 10-minute business proposal and potentially win prizes awarded by the local municipalities, such as best overall pitch.

Originally scheduled for February, the event is being postponed to the end of April to plan for an in-person show held this year in Souris. The expo usually rotates through different communities but was held virtually last year due to the pandemic.

Cameron said there was plenty of extra work required to host a quality show online, and for that reason pushed for the show to return in person.

“We feel like people are ready to be back and networking, having that human connection and meeting people to help advance their business.”

The time for attracting large-scale businesses to the community has passed and instead, job creation must come from within, Cameron said.

“We need to start encouraging entrepreneurship because that is where job growth and economic development is coming from, from that local base.”

After working on the expo for three years, Cameron has seen significant growth for startup businesses in the area. She can recall a time when it would be difficult to find one business to qualify for the pitch competition.

“This year I was able to find 15 new emerging businesses in our municipality alone, and had two or three of them really interested in pitching in the competition. I think if we look at these 15 businesses that are employing one to two people, that’s 30 jobs.”

Cameron said the new businesses have ranged from clothing lines and boutiques to agritourism ventures in honey, tea and farm to table, to spray foam insulation and welding.

“I was blown away to think of what we’ve been through in this province for the last two to three years and to see these emerging businesses, people venturing out to purchase existing ones, people building something out of their home or side hustles becoming real entrepreneur ventures.”

Samantha Cluett, owner of Samantha’s Boutique, in Elkhorn, can remember the day she won the pitch competition in 2019, nearly a year after taking over the existing Past and Present store that had been in the community for 16 years.

“I had started working here in 2015 and then the owner was looking to retire, and I thought it was a good opportunity to buy the business and carry it on in town,” Cluett said.

Known as the “trendy store with the pink door,” Cluett and her staff sell a bit of everything, from women’s fashion and home décor to a gourmet food selection with a full-service flower shop on hand.

Cluett’s original pitch at the expo covered her business model, future goals and five-year plan, earning the respect from the judges at the show. Years later, the store owner has now become a speaker for the event and plans to attend this year to meet more like-minded entrepreneurs.

Cluett would like to use this year as a chance to implement Square, a POS system for her business, and make use of its universal till system and inventory management. It’s a goal she’s had for the store since before the pandemic.

Coming from a town of 500 people, the owner, much like Cameron, has seen growth in the Elkhorn business sector, having found 30 businesses being able to support a community with a small population.

Moving east down the Trans-Canada Highway, you can find the Garden Shoppe in Virden, which opened in the summer of 2019. Owner Rhonda Walker runs a greenhouse that sells flowers over the growing season and a large selection of teas blended in-house throughout the year. Walker found the initial flower farm took on a new life when the pandemic started.

“The first year was a lot of trial and error, a lot more error than trial,” Walker said.

“The flowers were beautiful, but where I planted was in an old corral, and not really thinking, there were too many weeds and junk in the way over time. The next year, we changed to having 27 garden boxes, and converted an old shed [into] … an amazing greenhouse.”

With experience from working in dentistry, Walker said there was a huge learning curve in starting the business and keeping up with the demand for tea, which she has found has been a great seller.

“The energy in the building is amazing,” Walker said.

The owner, who sells a selection of Earl Grey, green and herbal teas, is looking to start a monthly subscription box similar to what she has in place for Valentine’s Day. Walker’s idea is to cycle through several varieties of tea each month. In the summer, she would like to feature a customer favourite: basil peach green flavour from freshly grown basil and green tea leaves that she is able to source.

Walker has enjoyed supporting the Southwest Business Expo and last year supplied the event with her line of teas in gift bags for attendees. The garden enthusiast said she can see the sense of entrepreneurialism return to downtown Virden after the devastating fire in fall 2017.

Cameron has helped oversee almost $40,000 awarded through the collaborating RMs, Community Futures and Sunrise Credit Union over the previous four years. She estimates that 71 per cent of the businesses that have pitched at the expo are still operating.

This year, the expo is looking forward to welcoming Gregg McLachlan and Leslie Fournier from Your Town Rising, an organization based in southern Ontario. The two have prepared a keynote presentation focused on improving storefronts on a shoestring budget, making a good first impression, marketing and community art placemaking initiatives.

“We brought them in because we wanted to get businesses excited about making their storefronts look great and their main streets look great so you get people out and about,” Cameron said.

For more information on the event, visit swbusinessexpo.com.

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