Window Decorating Contest Winners, OBIA Blade Sign Grant, and more!

OBIA Annual General Meeting Wrap-Up

 Thank you to everyone who attended the virtual OBIA Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday! It was wonderful to see so many of our members participating, sharing feedback and new ideas!   We could not do this job without you and we sincerely appreciate your support! We would also like to thank our esteemed guests, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, MP Kyle Seeback, Mayor Sandy Brow, Members of Council and Town staff.

If you were unable to attend the live presentation, you can view the full recording on our YouTube Channel.  We welcome your feedback and questions; you may send them anytime to ambassador@downtownorangeville.ca.

Those who registered early for the event received a Foodie Gift Bag containing goodies from Taphouse Craft Beer + Kitchen, Mochaberry, Le Finis, Fromage, & Ontario Honey Creation and we really hope you enjoyed them!  Much thanks to Mike from the Taphouse for putting these treat bags together for us and to each of the contributors – thank you, you made the evening even more enjoyable!

Holiday Window Decorating Contest – Winners!

We announced the winners of our Holiday Window Decorating Contest at the Annual General Meeting earlier this week! All of the Christmas windows were outstanding this year and we wish that we could award everyone a prize!​

Drumroll please….

First Place goes to Dragonfly Arts on Broadway!   Dragonfly wins a FREE ¼ Page ad including graphic design in In the Hills magazine! ​

Second Place goes to Suzanne Gardner Flowers winning $200 in marketing bucks!​

There was a tie for 3rd Place - 

Go Yoga & Foxy Face each win $100 in marketing bucks!

Special thanks to our friends and partners, In the Hills Magazine and Green Monkey for donating the 1st Place prize along with the BIA!  We love working with these fantastic organizations!

**To the winners, we will be in touch early next week with your prize details!

OBIA Blade Sign Grant Program

Have you always wanted a beautiful hanging sign for your storefront? Now’s your chance!   Effective signage is essential for brick & mortar businesses ​and research shows that blade signs are key to attracting pedestrians. ​

The OBIA’s Blade Sign Grant will provide up to $635 CAD for the purchase and installation of a new blade sign​.  The program offers a simplified sign permit process and a reduced permit fee. ​ We will be contacting you with the full program details in the coming days, stay tuned!

Stay-At-Home Order Extended

On Monday, the Premiere announced that the Stay-at-Home Order and State of Emergency would be extended until at least February 9th.  I think many of us were expecting this announcement, but it is still very disappointing news for our members who are only able to operate at reduced capacity, or not able to operate at all.   We will continue to monitor for any changes to the order.  In the meantime, here is a quick refresher:

Indoor social gatherings are prohibited, outdoor gatherings are limited to 5 people, and residents are only permitted to leave their homes for essential reasons, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work.   Anyone caught violating the stay-at-home order could face fines and prosecution.

Under the Stay-At-Home Order:
  • All businesses must ensure that any employee who can work from home, does work from home.
  • Individuals are required to wear a mask or face covering in the indoor areas of businesses or organizations that are open.
  • Restaurants are permitted to continue with curbside and delivery takeout options.
  • Essential Retailers (supermarkets, convenience stores, other stores that primarily sell food and pharmacies) can remain open for in-person retail, subject to:
  • -Members of the public being able to maintain two metres physical distance from every other person in the business or facility and complying with face covering rules AND
  • -The number of persons occupying any room that is open to the public does not exceed 50% capacity of the particular room. Curbside pick-up and delivery is permitted.
  • Non-Essential Retailers are permitted to continue with curbside pick-up or delivery (in-person retail shopping not permitted) with the following stipulations:
  • An item may only be provided for curbside pickup if the patron ordered the  item before arriving at the business premises.
  • Sales must be exclusively made so patrons are not required to enter the indoor area of the business, including curbside pick-up or delivery.
  • All non-essential retail stores, including hardware stores, alcohol retailers, and;
  • Those offering curbside pickup or delivery, must open no earlier than 7 a.m. and close no later than 8 p.m.

Read the Full Provincewide Shutdown Measures here.

Our Good News Story This Week

We love seeing your collaborations and this one is for a great cause!  Branching Out Support Services and Bluebird Café & Grill have teamed up in support of the Foodbank and their “Coldest Night of the Year” campaign.  $1 from every pizza sold at Bluebird Café & Grill between February 2nd and February 6th will go to Branching Out’s Coldest Night of the Year Team in support of the Orangeville Food Bank.

Enjoy your weekend!