Every week, hundreds upon hundreds of residents and visitors flock to Colchester Community Workshops’ New to You store.
The program relies on donations from the community to keep the shelves full. Unfortunately, representatives with the non-profit organization have noticed a recent decline in donations which has caused some concern.
“We’re used to experiencing a bit of a downturn this time of year,” said Colchester Community Workshops Operations Manager Susan MacCallum. “But this time, it’s lasted longer than it has in previous years.”
Although it’s only speculation, MacCallum believes the recent recession and the sluggish bounce back from it has led to less spending, which means residents aren’t replacing items in their home as quickly as they once did.
“I think most people are waiting to replace certain items until they have to do it,” continued MacCallum. “Because of that, we’re seeing a reduction in donations. We’re simply asking those people who are looking at replacing some items or getting ready to do some spring cleaning to keep us in mind.”
At one point, a handling area where donated items are sorted was all but empty. That’s one of the areas Virginia Haight is responsible for. A client of Colchester Community Workshops, she too has noticed a decline in the items coming in.
“It has been slow,” she said. “I’m hoping things will pick up when we get some nicer weather again. Maybe people just don’t feel like bringing their stuff to us while it’s cold out.”
Since its inception almost two decades ago, the New to You store has been a reliable revenue stream for the Workshops. It’s directly enabled the organization to hire two additional staff members without support from the Department of Community Services.
One of those positions is a director who works in the New to You with clients and helps them learn and improve upon their interpersonal skills that are necessary for that job. The second hire was a community employment coach who helps clients work on employability skills which results in more clients working in the community.
That fact alone shows just how important the donations have been over the years. It’s also part of the reason MacCallum is reluctant to put out calls of this nature.
“Colchester County has always been so supportive of us and they’ve helped us out with everything we’ve turned to them for,” she said. “Part of me feels guilty for seeking them out again but it’s important they know just how important those donations are. All of the revenue from the store goes back into our operations.”
Over the years, MacCallum fears a false perception has also been created among those who have made donations in the past. Often times the dumpster at the facility contains what look to be good items but she wants to re-assure everyone they don’t throw out good items.
“If people see something in our dumpster, it’s there for a reason,” she said. “It simply means it’s going to cost us more to repair it then we can sell it for. We test everything here. We just don’t discard items especially if we can make money off of it.”
The Colchester Community Workshops will accept just about anything that has a potential re-sale value. If it’s an appliance, it must be in working order, clothing must be in good repairs as well as books and home décor items. They won’t accept mattresses, box springs or encyclopaedias.
They also do a fair bit of recycling. If an item can’t be sold or has been sitting on the shelf for a while, recycling options are available. Clothing is sent to Ontario for resale to a third world country, which provides another revenue stream. All copper and aluminum is recycled and books that don’t sell are sent to Thermo-Cell Industries Limited in Debert as another way to make some money.
“Recycling is a big thing for us and many people might not know just how much we do,” said MacCallum. “We also accept furniture and larger appliances. They are big sellers for us as long as they’re in good working condition. Many people just can’t afford to always go out and buy new. We see everything from young couples coming in who are setting up their new place to a college student who needs some things for their apartment.”
Items can be dropped off at Colchester Community Workshops Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If anyone has any questions about what is accepted, they can call 893-7228 ext. 114.

This year is shaping up to be a memorable one for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colchester.
Celebrating its 35th year, the non-profit organization has a number of events already planned for 2013. An already exciting year received a big boost when Scotiabank presented members of Big Brothers Big Sisters with a cheque for $15,000 through its community fund.
“This is an amazing way to kick off our 35th year of serving the community,” said Sandra Dill, president of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colchester board of directors. “To partner with Scotiabank and kick off this big year with such a wow moment – we couldn’t ask for a better launch into this special year.”
The money was made available through a matching program offered by Scotiabank. Leading up to Christmas, four branches sold Traveloto tickets on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Every ticket sold - 644 in total – was matched up to $15,000.
Heather Hagen is the manager of Scotiabank’s Inglis Place branch. She says this is the second year the bank has been involved with ticket sales for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Thanks to dedicated employees and the community, reaching the lofty $15,000 goal was something they all worked hard to accomplish.
“When people would come in, we were quick to let them know the $25 they were spending on the ticket is going to be matched simply because it was purchased at Scotiabank,” said Hagen.
“A lot of people we spoke with indicated that’s the reason they purchased their ticket through us. It might have been closer for them to pick up a ticket elsewhere but because they knew the money would be doubled, they were willing to take the time to come in and buy it from us.”
Branches in Elmsdale, Tatamagouche, Inglis Place and Truro’s West End all sold tickets for the 2013 Traveloto. Understanding what’s involved with selling the tickets, Michelle Misener, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters, admits selling that many tickets wasn’t a walk in the park.
“When you stop and think about it, filling out 644 tickets is no easy task. Every time one of those tickets was sold, it meant a staff person had to fill out all the information.
They had to ask the buyer if they wanted tag and in many cases explain to them what that meant. It’s really incredible because this takes away time from their daily responsibilities and done no less at Christmastime which is often very busy.”
Long-time Big Brothers Big Sisters Treasurer Randy MacKenzie notes the Traveloto program is one of the biggest fundraisers for the agency over the course of the year. He says the amount of ticket sales directly impacts just how much they can do throughout the year.
Thanks to the commitment from the community and supporters like Scotiabank, they’ve been able to do quite a bit.
“We’ve been able to move our organization forward in a big way,” he said. “We’re very appreciative of that and realize it doesn’t come without a tremendous amount of support. The impact this agency’s volunteers have made on the children at risk in our community is substantial. Not a lot of people get the opportunity to see that on a daily basis, but from a policing perspective, I do.”
Although the year-long anniversary celebrations will consume a lot of time in 2013, Misener says there is still work to be done and the organization’s goal of matching kids with positive role models through its various programs hasn’t changed.
As for Scotiabank, Hagen says staff members are excited to watch the number of tickets sold climb and climb.
She adds Scotiabank is already looking forward to selling tickets again this year and has plans of mirroring this year’s results for a third straight year.
“It’s really exciting for us,” she said. “We can see the results. We knew we’re getting closer. It started for us last year when we were selling the tickets for the first time. We hit $5,000, then $10,000, $12,000 and $13,000. I don’t think there was one person that didn’t start thinking about hitting $15,000. This year, we said right from the beginning we had to reach $15,000. There was no way we weren’t going to hit that goal.”
And because of that effort, Dill says every time a winning ticket sold at Scotiabank is drawn over the course of the year, Scotiabank employees will be playing a role in putting the winner on an airplane destined for a dream vacation.

By Lynn Curwin

Seeds, food, information and people packed St. Andrew’s United Church on February 23 when the sixth annual Seedy Saturday event was held.
Booths offered a variety of items for sale and hands-on family activities were held downstairs. There were also free workshops on seed saving, seed starting, sprouting and extending the growing season.
“I came to learn more about gardening, get some seeds and take part in activities with my children,” said Natasha Erskine, of Truro Heights, who attended with her two young daughters. “This is the first time I’ve been to this and they’ve done a great job with activities for kids. We’re really enjoying it.”
Erskine said she has dabbled in gardening in the past and plans to get advice from a friend in order to grow vegetables and herbs from the seeds she purchased.
Jana Collette also attended the event with young children. It was her second visit and she took her two sons downstairs to enjoy the activities before buying seeds and gathering information.
“I grow indoor herbs and having things natural and organic is important to me,” she said.
Julian Krizsan was learning more about beekeeping while at the fair. The 12-year-old stopped to talk to Tony Phillips, who keeps bees and makes honey in Debert.
“Someday I would really like to keep bees,” he said. “They’re really interesting, almost like a garden in motion.”
Barton Cutten attended as a vendor for Annapolis Seeds, which sells many varieties of heirloom seeds. He has taken part in the event every year. It’s where he met Owen Bridge, who started Annapolis Seeds, and he’s been involved as a sales agent for the company for the last two years.
“This brings together a lot of like-minded people,” he said. “For many it’s the unofficial start to the growing season. It’s great for reinforcing and creating awareness of the food system.”
He said that Annapolis Seeds offers more than 100 varieties this year and many people are surprised by the diversity of plants. The company finds many varieties of seeds through seed saver networks.
Daniel Johnston was a vendor with very unique products. The owner of Rustic Roots brought a few of the items he created from old boards and branches, as well as information on his landscaping services.
“I worked for a landscaping company for about seven years and this is my first year with my own company,” he explained. “I use a lot of boards from old buildings so I’m always on the lookout for them. I make a lot of tables, chests and hutches. Some people show me pictures and I recreate items.”
He creates stone walls and pathways, along with doing other landscaping work.
Claire Cochrane, of Upper Stewiacke, was selling Hope Seeds, baked goods and jams and jellies, along with providing information on Community Shared Agriculture and the Cochrane Family Farm. With Community Shared Agriculture members register and then receive a weekly supply of vegetables.
“We also sell from a market at the farm and this is a good way to get our name out,” said Cochrane. “We use natural, organic practices on our farm.
“This is our first year at Seedy Saturday and it’s been very busy. We got a lot of sales and talked to a lot of people.”
Kathy Sutherland attended as a representative of the La Leche League.
“It’s our first time here but it seemed quite fitting,” she said. “We want to raise awareness around breastfeeding and remind people that there is a support group here. Le Leche League has been in Truro for almost 30 years and many people find it reassuring.”
The La Leche League support groups meet at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at Maggie’s Place.
Seedy Saturday is presented by St Andrew’s United Church, the Living Earth Council and USC Canada.
“We’re really pleased with the turnout this year,” said Mark Austin, chair of the board of directors of USC Canada. “A lot of people showed up early this year. We have fewer seed vendors this year but more people trading seeds, which means people are saving seeds more. We want to focus on the importance of seeds that aren’t from large commercial companies. With more people saving seeds and more varieties there is more food security.”
Kenda MacLellan, of the Living Earth Council, said she has become more involved in gardening since taking part in Seedy Saturdays.
“I didn’t know much about gardening before but I grow some vegetables now,” she said. “These events are great places to learn and to meet new people.”

High-pitched squeals, laughter and the sound of metal clashing together; they are sounds fairly common in a junior high school gym.
However, a closer look shows something much more. Behind a giant curtain used to divide the Truro Junior High School gym in half, Grade 6 students race around in wheel chairs. They’re scattered all over their half of the gym, some doing wheelies, others spinning around in circles and yes, some even smashing into each other.
Off to the side sits another student. His wheelchair is noticeably different. It’s plugged in and on the wheels are several lights. He smiles as he watches his classmates buzzing around the gym. He knows when the bell goes to signify the class is over, they will park their chairs, get up and walk to their next class. But they will do it with a greater appreciation.
His name is Joe Wood and he’s been confined to a wheelchair for the past two years after being diagnosed with congenital fiber type disproportion. He explains the condition in words few could comprehend but is also quick to translate. It’s basically a form of myopathy that affects the skeletal muscles which are used primarily for movement.
“In most bodies, people are made up of muscles, ligaments and other things,” he said. “Usually the muscle accounts for 50 per cent of that make up but mine is only 10 per cent so I’m not as strong as I should be. If I’m going all day, I can also get tired. It doesn’t happen a lot but if I’m doing something I’m not used to be doing, I will feel it a little bit more.”
Joe was the inspiration behind having the wheelchairs brought to the school. It also ties in with the school’s efforts to celebrate diversity and teaching empathy. He saw it as an opportunity for his friends and fellow students to see that just because he’s in a wheelchair, doesn’t mean he is always dealing with limitations. Instead, he showed them just how much he can really do.
Because Joe’s muscles aren’t getting stronger, his wheelchair does have power assist. Right now, it doubles the effort he puts into moving it. It also means he has to stop to re-charge from time to time.
“I can do pretty much anything anyone else can do, unless it’s something like hiking,” he said. “I can still play hockey, baseball or most other sports. I’ve even learned to bunny hop (a trick that allows him to launch his wheelchair into the air) a curb and I’ve tried a few other moves as well.”
Steve Sampson with the Halifax Wheelchair Basketball Association coordinated the activities for students. He was assisted by gym teacher Brian Hayden.
Sampson says he received a call from the IWK wondering if he would take some wheelchairs to Truro.
“The person who called knew Joe and because he lives outside of the city, they wanted to know what we might be able to do. Options are limited for young people in a wheelchair if they live outside the city, especially when it comes to this type of program,” he said. “The goal of my visit was to come down and show the friends, brothers, sisters and classmates how fun it is when they see Joe can play just like them, they want to play too and that gives him someone to play against.”
Sampson, who doesn’t require a wheelchair, first got involved in wheelchair basketball when he took in a game at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing. When he returned from China, he reached out to the local groups in Halifax and actually started playing himself. Since then, he’s coached Canada Games teams, acquired different coaching levels and got involved with the national team. Last year, he traveled to London for the most recent Paralympics where the team won gold.
However, his trip to Truro didn’t involve any basketball lessons. Instead, it was an opportunity for students to experience some time in a wheelchair learning the basics as well as the difficulty of maneuvering them.
“I just wanted everyone to have fun,” said Joe. “This is something a lot of the students don’t get to try. I thought it would be a great learning experience for them. A number of people came over to me afterward and told me it was the best gym class they’ve ever been in.”
Under Sampson’s guidance, the students learned some safety tips, techniques that make it easier to push and speed up. They also played a game where one person – the shark – had to try and tag the other students – the fish - as they wheeled past. Each person caught would then become a shark until the last fish was caught.
“I think a lot of the kids are surprised,” said Sampson. “There’s no doubt it’s any eye-opening experience for them. They don’t realize the co-ordination that’s involved. It gives them a new respect and understanding.”
That’s exactly how Joe believes most students felt about the experience.
“I thought they would like it. It’s something different for them. It’s tough to expect people to know what it’s like to be in a wheelchair if they can’t be in one themselves,” he said. “Now that they’ve seen this, I think it will give me more opportunities because people can see I can do pretty much anything they can do. The key if you’re in a wheelchair is to keep a positive attitude.”

Like most Thursday evenings, the lobby of Empire Theatres in Millbrook was buzzing as movie goers bought their tickets, concessions and prepared to be entertained for a couple of hours watching the latest big screen hit.
But on February 14, people were treated to much more than a movie with the purchase of their ticket. Shortly after 6:40 p.m., music began playing over the lobby speakers and without warning, a flash mob broke out. Dancing to ‘Break the Chain’ sung by Tena Clark, the group was participating in a global activist movement designed to bring an end to violence against women and girls also known as V-Day. The ‘V’ stands for victory.
Heather Russell is the executive director of the Central Nova Women’s Resource Centre. The organization has been involved with V-Day for the past few years and played a major role in organizing the flash mob.
“This year, in order to support V-Day, an initiative called 1 Billion Rising was launched,” said Russell. “The idea behind this initiative is to celebrate on February 14 by having 1 billion people rise up against violence. A lot of places around the world also danced to show their support. We didn’t have to dance, there were other things people could do but it all comes back to raising awareness in our communities.”
Leading up to V-Day, Russell was certain she was going to organize an event; she just wasn’t sure what it would be. Browsing online she viewed another group performing the dance and instantly fell in love with the concept.
However, pulling it off was a different story. V-Day was held on Valentine’s Day so Russell knew the flash mob had to be held in a high traffic area. Empire Theatres made perfect sense.
“I was a little nervous when I made the call because sometimes violence against women can be a touchy subject,” she said. “I spoke with Darryl MacIsaac, who is the general manager, and told him what I had planned. Before I could even finish telling him about it, he said absolutely. He told us we could do pretty much whatever we needed to raise awareness. It was fantastic.”
Thanks to Goodlife Fitness and Cobequid Education Centre, the group had a place to rehearse. The only thing missing was someone to help with the choreography. That’s where Jessica Wile, a current student at the Institute of Human Services and Jenna MacDonald, esthetician at Forbidden Tanning on Prince Street got involved.
“The original choreography was done by Debbie Allen of Fame and they actually had a video online where it breaks down the dance,” continued Russell. “With Jessica and Jenna leading us, they made sure we had everything down.”
Making up the flash mob was men and women from the community, women who support the Central Nova Women’s Resource Centre, members of the Lower Onslow Pathfinders Group and members of the Truro Dance Academy.
The participants were met with applause from those who stood by to watch. Many bystanders took photos and videos of the flash mob which is exactly what Russell was hoping for.
“We wanted to create some talk and show people this is something that’s unfortunately continuing to happen in our community and we need to take it seriously,” she said. “As people came through the doors we had a pledge sheet. On one side of the sheet it shared some information about 1 Billion Rising and on the other side was space where people could pledge how they planned on rising against violence.
“I think this is still a touchy topic and in some cases people are scared to say anything,” Russell continued.
“For women especially, there is still a stigma attached to it. A lot of the times, survivors are often treated poorly and find it difficult to want to say anything. It is a problem in our community and that’s unfortunate but globally, one in three women will be assaulted in some form during their lifetime. It could be physical, emotional or sexual assault. The point of this is, women are equals and if you’re a man and you wouldn’t do or say something to your buddy then it’s not alright to do it to your wife, mother, sister, girlfriend or daughter.”
In Colchester County, there are places for women to turn. Counselling is available at the Colchester Sexual Assault Centre and the Central Nova Women’s Resource Centre often deals with women in an abusive relationship.
“We see women coming in but they don’t always tell us what’s going on right away,” Russell said.
“They might be coming in because of a self-esteem or confidence issue and they’re not realizing the connection to something that may be happening in their life or something that may have happened when they were a child. When women are violated, most try and bury it and get through it as best they can but there are avenues to seek help. They don’t need to keep dealing with it and it’s important to find support right away.”
Following the flash mob on V-Day, two performances of the Vagina Monologues were held at the Marigold Cultural Centre in February while the Truro Theatre Society presented Invisible Prisons March 8 and 9. March 8 marked International Women’s Day.
“We’re going to just keep raising awareness one way or another,” said Russell. “I’m really happy everyone involved had a good time and it’s nice the work, effort and nerves that went into everything were all worth it.”
To view the entire dance held at Empire Theatres, visit Hub Now on Facebook.
More information on V-Day can be found at www.vday.org. To learn more about the 1 Billion Rising campaign, visit www.onebillionrising.org.

By Ludmilla Jarda

Articled Clerk - Patterson Law

In the course of doing business, you may find yourself dealing with Security Agreements. When acting as a creditor, these agreements allow you to secure an interest in a debtor’s personal property as collateral under the Personal Property Security Act. But what happens if someone else has security over the same collateral? While there are many factors to consider, the general rule, “first-in-time”, often settles this dispute.

Generally, the “first-in-time” rule applies when two creditors have the same type of interest in the same collateral: whoever secures their interest first will rank ahead the other’s interest. Ranking is important because if the debtor defaults with respect to your security, the more there are creditors ahead of you, the less likely you will be able to recover your money from the debtor.

However, the type of security interest that you have in the collateral may also have an impact on the recovery. For example, “perfected” security interests have priority over “unperfected” security interests. To “perfect” your interest, you must meet two conditions. First, your security interest must have “attached”, meaning you have given value to the debtor, the debtor has rights in the collateral and the debtor has signed a security agreement or taken possession of the collateral. Second, your interest must have been “perfected” either by registration, which is the most common, or by you or someone on your behalf taking possession of the collateral. Until both conditions are met, you will have an “unperfected” security interest.

Another type of security interest to consider is purchase money security interest. This type of security is given to enable a debtor either to purchase or acquire a right in the collateral. Holders of purchase money security interests who perfect within the required time generally rank ahead of “perfected” security interests as it is an exception to the “first-in-time rule”.

In short, while your security interest may be a valid interest, your ranking relates to the type of interest you have acquired, i.e. “unperfected”, “perfected” or purchase money security, and determines whether your interests may prevail over those of others in an action for debt. As a result, when lending money, you should always search and review what other security interest are registered against the debtor, and you should then ensure that your interest is registered as soon as possible.

By Jeff Brown

ALPHA SOCIAL MEDIA INC

We live in a day where mistakes are magnified greatly in a public way.  Social media enhances what you are doing, or what you are not doing.  And when you are not being smart, it really shows.  And when there are customers involved, it can get really bad.
Now I know that mistakes happen.  Mistakes are great learning moments if we will learn from them.
But there are some mistakes that happen that make you think… “What were they thinking?”
When a business tells their customers that (1) if they don’t like it, they can go some where else, (2) they have spent too much time on serving them already and they are not going to help them anymore, or (3) they don’t think they are important enough to help; then there’s going to be trouble.
I have seen all three of the above scenarios happen to me or to some of my very close friends.  This stuff is still happening in businesses today.  It’s never good when it happens.  Business owners and employees that recognize these critical pivotal moments will be demonstrating discernment and good common sense.
Common sense comes from the process of critical thinking.
The people that really think about the consequences of their actions before they act are the ones that we attribute to having great common sense. Critical thinking can be developed and sharpened.
When mistakes or failures happen in a business, business owners and their staff need to recognize the down side of not creating a good moment for their customers.
They need to realize that inaction might cost them more in the end than stepping up to the plate to fix the problem immediately.
Customers can reach out farther and faster with their concerns than ever before.  Years ago they told ten friends.
Now they can tell thousands online quick.  Common sense tells us that we need to fix a problem when we recognize it. That means our staff have to be sharp and empowered to fix a problem.
Lately, we seem to be seeing more failures than fixes.
People do not seem to understand that a little effort to fix a problem early on is better than a huge fire fighting campaign way after the fact.
Problems need to be fixed before they ever hit social media.  At that point, there might be a huge fire to put out.  Remember, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
So business owners, please help your employees see the benefit of critical thinking or good old common sense when a customer has a problem.  Common sense says fix it early.
Empower your staff to make the right decisions quickly.
After all, what we want amplified online is … “How great we are to our customers” and “How much they really love what we do.”
Make sure that your staff has the training necessary to stop a customer disaster before it ever happens.
This will make a great difference in your business and your customer’s perception of your business.
Give them something great to shout about, offline and online.

By Don Hay

President - Truro and District Chamber of Commerce

One of the main roles of the Truro & Colchester Chamber of Commerce is to act as advocates on issues towards the three levels of government.
We have put a lot of focus on provincial issues in the last year and have not talked very much about municipal issues in Colchester County and how they relate to the business community.
Therefore the Chamber recently met with the mayors and attended a council meeting to get an update on our local government’s priorities and vision for the upcoming year.
We first talked to the mayor of Stewiacke. At a town business committee meeting, Mayor Wendy Robson, mentioned that the town is working on a strategic plan for business and community development.
This includes a residential development plan and a tourism marketing strategy.  In terms of taxation rates, she said she expects rates to remain steady for this year. She said that although there are long term goals for a new or renovated civic building, the town of Stewiacke must first deal with some infrastructure issues.  
Next we met with Mayor Bill Mills of Truro. From a business development perspective, Mayor Mills, although frustrated with the slow progress of some opportunities, was optimistic for the upcoming year.
When asked about taxation, he said he expects rates to go up about two per cent. The chamber does not want to see taxes increase and we questioned Mayor Mills about this.
His response was that the town has many additional costs which need funds with the new civic centre and hospital and a new library and justice centre proposed to be built soon.
Along with Mayor Mills, Colchester County Mayor Bob Taylor has identified controlling potential future flooding as a major concern for the County and an area for investment this year. County council also has some other major infrastructure costs ahead as well as financing capital projects such as the hospital and civic centre.
Also, some challenging decisions lie ahead such as how to deal with Scotia Pool and a new library. Although taxes were not mentioned, all these projects are sure to have a price tag. Mayor Taylor also mentioned that the county is focusing on developing the Debert Industrial Park and is pleased that the County has been able to support Home Hardware towards its expansion.
A major concern of the Chamber and of all three mayors is business development for Colchester County and in particular, the future of the Colchester Regional Development Authority (CORDA).
All agree a major void will be evident with a demise of CoRDA, and all seem to have major concerns with the creation of new Regional Enterprise Networks (REN’s).
All the mayors feel that the proposed coverage for the REN in this area is too large and worry about representation on the board of such an organization. Therefore they would like to see changes or look at alternatives.
The town and county see the need for revenue generators in terms of taxation with more business development and population growth and feel the loss of CORDA may have a serious impact.
Overall the chamber feel encouraged at the focus our municipal leaders expressed, showing a commitment to local business through economic development to grow our economy.
They can clearly see that supporting business is key to the development of the community as a whole in terms of creating jobs, investment and building a tax base for councils to work with.
Therefore, the Chamber of Commerce hopes that they will keep tax rates stable and support an environment where business can thrive.

By Tim Tucker

Executive Director - Truro and Colchester Chamber of Commerce

The concept in and of itself is very simple: the more money spent at local business, the more money is returned to the local economy. What that means is more businesses opening in the local area, more jobs, more donations being made to local charities and sports teams, etc.
Statistics and surveys show the average person understands this concept completely. However, for whatever reason, there is still significant portion of the population that will choose to spend their money outside of the community in which they live.
In 2012, the Truro & Colchester Chamber of Commerce started the “Live Local” committee. It brought together members of the chamber, along with several stakeholders in the community, to determine ways to encourage people to spend their money at businesses located in the Truro/Colchester region, rather than having that money leave the community. These stakeholders include CoRDA, the Downtown Truro Partnership, CNTA, the Town of Truro, the County of Colchester, the Village of Bible Hill, CBDC-NOBL and others. The 3/50 project in the Unites States shows that for every $100 spent at a business located in your community, $43 to $68 is returned to the local economy by way of payroll, purchases, commercial taxes, donations to local charities and sport teams, etc.
When that money is spent at stores outside of the local area or online, zero is returned to the local economy and that potential investment is lost. As for the Truro/Colchester region itself, a Chamber survey of close to 140 people showed that, depending on the item being purchased, anywhere from 20 to 30 per cent were buying that product or service at a business not located in the local area.
A shift in even a small portion of that number back to the local area would means hundreds of thousands of dollars returned to the local economy and all of the spin-offs that come with it.
The Live Local Committee was formed to determine ways to remind people that shopping locally will be beneficial to everyone involved. We don’t want to stop at shopping locally though. The committee also aims to remind people to support local charities, festivals and events and community minded-groups. Why? Because if they don’t receive support, they won’t stay here.
Also, if the ones we have can’t get support from the local community, it goes without saying that new ones will not come here. That applies to businesses, events, festivals, charities and pretty much everything else.
While still in the early stages, the Live Local Committee, with the help of local designer Amanda Bent, came up with the Live Local logo displayed here.
This logo is now being distributed across Colchester County as a small reminder that shopping locally and supporting local events, festivals, charities, etc., is an investment in our community. That money will be returned to our economy in various ways to continue to cycle. We hope that anyone who received it will choose to display it. If you haven’t received yours and would like one, please contact the Chamber and we’ll be happy to supply it. Please, think, invest and be local.

TRURO: Danielle Sawada and Laura Kenney will share the spotlight this month at the Marigold Cultural Centre Art Gallery.
Sawada, a potter, and rug-hooker Kenney will have their exhibit “Dirty Girl and the Hook – Expressions in Clay and Wool” on display from February 8 to 28 with an opening reception scheduled to be held February 20 from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Sawada creates one-of-a-kind functional pottery wares, which are both beautiful and practical. A self-taught potter who has learned many ways to accept, hide and beautify the wonks along the way, Sawada is also the proud owner of Thrown Together Pottery.
Kenney is a fiber artist who uses the traditional Nova Scotian craft of rug hooking to create original hand-hooked, hand-dyed rugs and wall hangings. Her work has been described as a whimsical, playful folk art. Using primarily second-hand wool clothing to create her rugs, Kenny’s hand-hooked rugs are a link to the past and a hope for the future direction or rug hooking.
Together, the pair has put together an intriguing, vibrant exhibit.
For more information on the exhibit at the Marigold Centre Art Gallery, contact Craig Johnson; Fundraising Coordinator and Gallery Curator at 897-4004.