A large crowd filled The Atrium building on Yates Street for the Think First Local annual general meeting April 18. A meet and greet kicked off the evening celebration of local small business.
Local brewer Paul Hadfield, of Spinnakers, officially took over as president of the non profit group of local businesses. Hadfield follows Robinson’s Outdoor Store’s Gayle Robinson, who had held the post since the group was formed in 2012.
Hadfield said “Building on the successes achieved by Think Local First over the last five years, I look forward to increasing cooperation through promoting member to member communications and support. We will continue to build a stronger local business community; reinforcing the diversity of local enterprise for the benefit of business, residents and visitors.”
Outgoing president Robinson said “I am so proud to see how Victoria’s independent business community has united over the past five years. They have embraced the10% shift; through their organizations and in their own lives to directly support each other and their local economy at the same time.”
The local business booster organization has grown from an initial 68 business members to 193.
Speakers for Tuesday’s evening included Wilson’s Transportation’s John Wilson, Brown’s the Florist’s Natasha Crawford and Shelley Gudgeon from Il Terrazzo.
