Huntsville is open for business, so why aren’t you here? That’s the message in a new video created by the Town’s Economic Development Committee that aims to convince professionals or business owners that Huntsville is the best place to move all or part of their operations.<\/p>\n
“The Economic Development Committee wanted to create something that would attract businesses to come to Huntsville either in whole or in part,” said Councillor Bob Stone, chair of the Economic Development Committee. “One of the initial pushes was to contact people who already have a hook to Huntsville – they either visit or have a cottage here and a business in southern Ontario – who might be frustrated driving home on Sunday night and would like to bring part of their business here. This is not a tourism piece. It’s solely about bringing business to Huntsville.”<\/p>\n
The video includes clips from local business owners expressing why they love to live and work in Huntsville. “We thought about the types of businesses that might do well in Huntsville, especially with our one-gigabit internet service and wanted to have a sampling of different markets represented,” said Stone.<\/p>\n
One of the local business owners highlighted in the video is Tom Stehr, owner of Sugarbush Hill Maple Farm, who started his business four years ago after a move to Huntsville from Burlington. He chose Huntsville for its high volume of tourism visits – important for his business model – and its proximity to Algonquin Park.<\/p>\n
He praised the Huntsville business community for helping make the start up of his business successful. “There were no stumbling blocks for me,” said Stehr. “Everyone was local that I used and the tradespeople were unbelievably good. I was pleased with the build and the only thing I had to get from somewhere else were stainless steel counters.”<\/p>\n
On a personal note, Stehr said the community embraced him and really stepped up last year after the death of his wife. “The outpouring of support I had from the community, people I had never met before were bringing food and checking in on me. I know that wouldn\u2019t have happened in Burlington.”<\/p>\n
It’s that combination of community, lifestyle and business support that the Town is hoping to get across with the video. Since its launch near the end of January, the video has received a positive response, said Scott Ovell, the Town’s Community Development Officer, with more than 1,500 views on the Town’s YouTube channel and thousands of impressions on Facebook.<\/p>\n
Next up, Town staff are looking to partner with Explorers’ Edge \/ RTO12, this region’s tourism marketing organization, to extend marketing of the video.<\/p>\n
“We’re discussing partnering with them for matching funds to expand the reach and create shorter, 30-second clips so we have more content to push out over social media,” said Ovell. “With a limited budget, it’s most important for us to collect as much data as we can and determine the best use within our budget.” He said they are also considering a new Economic Development landing page to provide easy access to information for owners of small to mid-sized businesses interested in relocating to Huntsville.<\/p>\n
The video was created by Starshine Video Productions (now Shine Media) at a cost of $5,000.<\/p>\n