November, 2016 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 9

• NOVEMBER 2016 •

Business Beat Table of ContentsPage 10 .................. BIG EventPage 11 .............Want to sell?Page 12 .................SafeCommPage 13 .......... Legal BusinessPage 14 ...............Winter prepPage 15 ........ Great show picsPage 16 ...........New Members

(ext. 222)

December Edition Advertising Deadline is November 15th

To take advantage of these excellent advertising opportunities

Send Best Wishes to your Businessfriends in our annual Holiday edition

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MAINTENANCE • TIRES • BRAKES • OIL & FILTERBATTERIES • ALIGNMENT

1012 Talbot St., St. Thomas 519-631-5080

TIRE SALE - NOV. 7 TO 12EVERY TIRE WE SELL, WE DONATE

$20 TO CHRISTMAS CARE.

Life is better in the Quick Lane.™

It’s often been said that what you get out of something is directly proportional to what you put in to something.

For the balance of 2016 and through 2017, the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce will present several opportunities for Members of all types and sizes. We invite you to consider the merits and rewards of par-ticipation.

One of our most popular and best-known functions is our monthly mixer and networking event, Business Af-ter 5. As always, admission is free and open to anyone (and everyone) from any business or organization that is a Member of the Cham-ber. It’s easy to attend and there are no advance reser-vations, tickets or advance arrangements necessary. Just be there! For dates and loca-tions, check the information we share each month here in Elgin This Month; on our website, stthomaschamber.on.ca; or the weekly issue of our Green Mail newsletter that should arrive at your in-box every Tuesday morning at 8.

Through 2017 and 2018 we have our books open on sponsorships of the monthly BAF events. It’s never been easier to be front-and-centre with a few hundred commu-nity leaders under one roof. Sponsorship involves work-ing with the Chamber staff to agree and confirm a date and location, and arranging hors d’oeuvres and door priz-es. For full details contact any of the Chamber staff and request a copy of our Business After 5 Planning Guide.

On January 21, we’re happy to host our 5th annual St. Thomas Uncorked wine taster at the St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre. TD Bank and The Real Canadian Su-perstore return as our main sponsors and 2016 Ontario Grape King Jamie Quai as tour leader for tastes of wines

from around the globe.Through later winter and into spring our focus will

turn, in part, to government and local/provincial/federal relationships with business. Our State of the Municipali-ties Luncheon with the St. Thomas & District Mayors will be held, along with our annual MP/MPP Luncheon. Dates for both will be announced soon.

The second Wednesday in May brings our annual Free Enterprise Awards Reception then, to end the month

and welcome green grass, we will host our annual Members Golf Day at St. Thomas Golf & Country Club. Both of our May events bring multiple participa-tion and sponsor support op-portunities.

New functions, events and ser-vices on the Chamber calendar include publication and release of 70,000 new St. Thomas & District street maps. Publica-tion is to be completed in the 2nd quarter of 2017. Up to 60 sponsor/ad options are part of the publication.

Been to the Chamber’s website lately? This year, over 300,000 people will use it to source business and community info. Members can upgrade listings in

our online directory and/or take high-visibility ad place-ments at key locations on our site. For samples and ex-amples go to stthomaschamber.on.ca

New Members Events are yet another option to con-sider, with special value if your business likes to connect with new arrivals and start-ups in the local business com-munity. We host a function for all businesses and people who are ‘new’ to the Chamber twice per year.

If your organization wants to turn up the volume and be seen and be heard, please consider options in working with the Chamber and our annual event/activity calendar. Just call, visit or email will start the ball rolling.

Community & business building made easy

He’s flyin’ away to play. Bob Walpole of Lineworks Design Group claimed the main prize at our Business & Community Showcase. Chamber Member Services Reps Barry Fitzgerald, left, and Christy Hunking are shown as Bob claimed his travel documents at the Chamber office.

Date:Wednesday, November 16

Site:CASO Station

750 Talbot Street, St. ThomasCo-Sponsors:

Elgin-Middlesex-Oxford Work-force Planning & Development

Board and CASO Station

Sponsor Remarks & Door Prize Draws start at 6:15

Great door prizes! Exceptional hors d’oeuvres and snacks plus all of your

favourite refreshments.

Free Admission to all personnel from any organization that is a

Member of the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce.

NovemberBusiness After 5

November, 2016 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 10

Chamber News

It’s a guided wine tour around the world and it’s called St. Thomas Un-corked. The 2017 edition will be Saturday January 21, 2017 at the St. Thomas - Elgin Public Art Centre, downtown at 301 Talbot Street, from 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Tickets are $45 (plus HST) each which includes admission, wine sam-ples, and food samples. Only 140 tickets are available.

We’re very grateful that TD Canada Trust returns as our main sponsor of this event. Their support assures an excellent evening.

St. Thomas Uncorked has been a sell-out every year since we launched this wine tasting and art apprecia-tion event in 2012, plus a large Si-lent Auction and door prizes. Quai du Vin’s resident sommelier, and re-cently-crowned Ontario Grape King, Jamie Quai returns as a member of our Member Services Committee’s organizing group. Jamie specializes in wine and food pairings using the 16 different

wines to be featured this year. Our wines will all be products available locally through the LCBO and we will proudly feature a selection of reds and whites from local, national and international win-

eries. Thanks to the generous sponsor-ship support of the Real Canadian Su-perstore, our guests will enjoy a wide variety of fruits, cheeses and hors d’oeuvres prepared to complement the wines we offer.

To book tickets, you have several options. You can order and pay online via the Cham-ber’s website. Go to s t thomaschamber.on.ca and click on the

event from the list on the lower right side of our main page. It’s easy and you can do it 24/7. Op-tion 2 – Members can call or visit the Chamber office at 519-631-1981 during business hours and arrange for an invoice. We’re at 300 South

Edgeware in the Elgin Busi-ness Resource Centre and open Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Option 3 – send your ticket order by

email to mail@stthomaschamber.ca Please make sure you connect with us soon for

tickets. This event has been a sell-out each year and it’s entirely possible we may be full by Christ-mas (Hint: Good Gift Idea!).

Questions? Speak with any staff member at the Chamber.

St. Thomas & DistrictChamber of Commerce2016 Board of Directors

Chair: Dan Kelly, CPA, CGA Dowler-Karn Ltd.Vice-Chair: Robert Furneaux Gorman-Rupp of Canada Ltd.Treasurer: Mark Lassam, CPA, CA Lassam& Co.Past Chair: Ross Fair Fanshawe CollegeDirector: Ray Bosveld HollisWealthDirector: Kathy Cook World Financial GroupDirector: Sean Dyke

St. Thomas Economic Development Corp.Director: Brian Helmer

Reith & Associates Insurance & FinancialDirector: Kevin Jackson Elgin Business Resource CentreDirector: Phil Mauer Phil Mauer & Associates Inc.Director: GinetteMinor Alexelle Slipcovers & DécorDirector: Joe Preston Wendy’s RestaurantDirector: BobWard The Auto Guys

PublishedbyMetrolandMediaGroupLtd.,anddelivered tobusinesses in St. ThomasandElginCountry

For complete information on the St. ThomasandDistrict Chamber of Commerce, reach us at:115-300South EdgewareRd.,St.Thomas,OntarioN5P4L1Telephone: 519-631-1981 Fax: 519-631-0466E-Mail:mail@stthomaschamber.caWebsite:www.stthomaschamber.on.ca

President & CEO BobHammersleyAccounting Coordinator SusanMundayMember Services ChristyHunkingMember Services Barry Fitzgerald

Business Beat

2017 St. Thomas UncorkedA BIG night with BIG wines!

“Tickets are $45 (plus HST)

each which includes admission, wine samples,

and food samples.”

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November, 2016 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 11

Viewpoint

If you own a business, you probably spend a lot of time thinking of different ways you can sell your product or ser-vice. Maybe you’ve investigat-ed neuro-marketing or tried some experiments with media and other sales or marketing approaches. And you’ve likely noticed that a hard, persuasive sell is getting more difficult these days, isn’t it?

Relationships are becom-ing incredibly important to brands, especially with social media. So is content marketing. Everyone wants infotainment. They long for information that is engaging and solid, not too long, not too short. Consumers are like Goldilocks nowadays.

But there’s so much noise out there. How do you get heard and give them what they want?

Whether you’re producing an article, copy, vid-eos, or podcasts, here are a few simple concepts to keep in mind as you create your content. These approaches are used by copywriters and advertis-ing professionals everywhere because they work.

These four techniques cut through the noise and get you noticed. The reason they work can be eas-ily understood if you think of a sound. There are certain tones people can’t hear. Sometimes it’s due to nature (for instance, men lose a lot of the upper frequencies as they age); sometimes it’s surround-ings (like a noisy coffee shop may drown out lower frequencies). Either way, they can’t hear it.

The same is true of customers and potential cus-tomers. If you are creating content on a topic that doesn’t fall into one of their “audible” ranges, they won’t be able to “hear” your messaging. You have to create something that resonates with them and you do that by using these hacks. (I’m using the word hacks because we’re past the time when sales and marketers “trick” their audience into buying.)

FearLet’s get the dirty one out of the way. Fear is a

huge motivator for most people. Fear of missing out, fear of dying, fear of loved ones dying, you get the idea. We do a lot of things in life because we’re afraid (or we’re afraid of what will happen if we don’t). Knowing what keeps your audience up at night and playing to those fears and insecuri-ties, is a very strong motivator for action.

Before you take this approach, ask yourself if this is how you want to sell. Do you want to scare your audience into a decision or do you want them to choose you over others? In some busi-nesses, it’s hard to sell any other way (insurance comes to mind). It’s hard to give up an approach that works.

Team approachThis approach takes what keeps people up at

night (a.k.a. their fears) and instead of compound-ing them it builds empathy. This tool is about building bridges, showing your audience you get it. You’ve been there. You know their frustrations, and this is how your business can help your cus-tomers solve them. You can do it together.

creaTing FreedomsAll three of these approaches so far begin in fear,

but where they go after that is what makes each of them different. The first one begins and ends in fear. The second takes fear and creates a solu-tion to that fear. The third builds on that solu-tion and brings your customers to the next stage. This approach concentrates on talking about how once they work with you to solve their problems, their new life is going to be wonderful – filled with many freedoms and no fear. John Lennon’s song Imagine conveys this idea (minus the busi-ness branding, of course). It’s all about imagining a better future because of the investment they make with you today.

appealing To curiosiTy and FascinaTion

There are some things we can’t help but be drawn to. It’s the old idea of rubberneck-ing at a car accident. Whether it’s morbid fascination or the type of fascination behind topics like Steve Jobs or a celebrity’s personal life, we all have these areas that we can’t get enough of. If you get to know your custom-ers very well, you can figure out what this is for them and play to that. You can also use this concept in the way brands use celebrity endorsements because often our fascinations become entwined with a desire to become like that person or thing that fascinates us.

Curiosity and fascina-tion are vehicles that drive desire. A brand that personifies that fascinating concept, or one that is tied to a

celebrity the audience is interested in, will trans-form that product or service into one the audi-ence is also interested in.

a Final word on sellingHard sells are out, as is trickery, in an obvious

sense. In some ways, there are products that need a little “smoke and mirrors”. But for the most part, your audience wants to do business with people they know, like, and trust. Keep this in mind when creating content. Try to escalate the marketing beyond fear but don’t ignore it. You have to understand what your audience fears to understand your audience, but instead of stop-ping at scaring them, use their fears to formulate a more elevated approach to helping them make an informed decision and selecting a solution that will help them overcome those fears.

After all, helping them overcome their fears will make them loyal to you. Using only fear as the motivator does work until someone scares them more.

Four of the most effective ways to sell your product or service by Christina R. Green

Christina R. Green teaches small businesses, chambers, and associations how to connect through content. Her articles have appeared in the Associations North Magazine, NTEN.org, AssociationTech, and Socialfish. She is a regular blogger at Frankjkenny.com and the Event Manager Blog. She’s a bookish writer on a quest to bring great storytelling to organizations everywhere.

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Member News

November, 2016 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 12

Sixty-seven communities in Canada have been designated as Safe Communities, with more communities seeking this designation every year. Linked to an international movement begun in 1989, Canadian Safe Communities believe that a safe life is a basic right. A designa-tion is a public affirmation of, and testament to, a community’s aspira-tion to create a safer life for all its citizens.

The official designation of a mu-nicipality as a Safe Community in-dicates a publicly articulated com-mitment to work towards a safer locality for all. It is not an end point, but rather, the beginning of a concerted effort to make injury prevention and safety promotion a top community priority with tangible results, ultimately creating safer places where citizens can live, work and play. Commu-nities that choose to see the designation process through to the end and commit to a collabora-tive relationship with Parachute. Members of the Parachute network and others in the domain of health and safety, are also agreeing to some guid-ing principles, namely leadership, sustainability, community engagement and prioritization of in-jury prevention.

In early 2003, St. Thomas - Elgin Public Health and the St. Thomas & District Chamber worked together to establish a new Chamber committee that would achieve designation and focus on key community needs and issues such as workplace

safety and improved safety and injury reduction on local streets, roads and highways. Our local designation was earned in October 2003 and has been maintained since that time through a de-tailed annual work plan.

Participation has grown and the Chamber is proud to include 24 community groups and agen-cies around the Safe Communities or “SafeComm” table including all area emergency services (police/fire/EMS), the Ministry of Transportation, com-munity services such VON, and  the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital. SafeComm is currently co-chaired by Jacky Allan from Public Health and Carey Wright from STEGH. Christy Hunking

from the Chamber office provides staff support, and Chamber CEO Bob Hammersley participates as an advisor.

The 67 communities who have obtained the Safe Community designation have shown considerable

commitment to promoting injury prevention and safety promotion lo-cally. They have brought together local officials from their municipalities at a leadership table, including represen-tatives from local government, pub-lic health, police, fire and emergency services, educational institutions, local

business, and health and safety organizations. Des-ignated Safe Communities have completed a for-mal Priority Setting Exercise and community scan, to inform their programming decisions, and they have a proven plan for sustainability.

Find out more about designated Canadian Safe Communities, visit the national Parachute Cana-da website: www.parachutecanada.org

SafeComm’s local/national affinity to Parachute Canada also gives us  global connections and is part of the  Pan Pacific Safe Communities Net-work, (see www.ppscn.org) established by repre-sentatives from New Zealand, the United States of America, Australia and Canada.

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November, 2016 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 13

Legal Business

Last year, the Canadian Federal Government raised the minimum down payment required on the purchase of homes over $500,000 to 10% from 5%. This was done in an effort to address the perceived over-heated housing market which had developed in Canada. But, in fact, only two cities, Toronto and Vancouver, exhibited price increases which were considered problematic. By 2015, the rest of the country was experiencing either flat or declining prices in housing. How-ever, we can never underestimate the impact of these urban centres upon the national housing market.

Despite the efforts of the federal government, home prices in the Vancouver and Toronto urban areas continued to rise, and at an alarming rate. The Province of British Columbia introduced a non-resident land transfer tax in an effort to discourage the purchase of real estate by foreign-ers. Residential housing has declined in value, according to some estimates by up to 15%, as a result of the new tax. Not surprisingly, the excess demand has shifted to Toronto.

The efforts of government so far have had some effect, but many experts point out that, along with the inflated prices of real estate, another problem has persisted. Canadians are perceived to be carrying too much debt. A large percentage of this debt relates to the mortgages against their homes; and this applies across the country, not just in Toronto and Vancouver.

Since the Great Recession, Canadians have enjoyed record low interest rates. It is not un-usual in my mortgage practice to renew or re-place mortgages with interest rates around 3% with rates of 2.4% and lower. Qualifying for mortgages, and servicing those mortgages has never been easier. But, perhaps it’s been too easy. Should the rates rise, there would be three en-tities exposed: first, the homeowner/mortgagor, second, the bank/lender, and third, the govern-ment, through mortgage insurance, in most cases through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corpo-ration (CMHC).

All “high ratio” (less than 20% down payment) mortgages are required to be insured against de-fault by a mortgage default insurer. Accordingly, in times of rising prices, the risk to the insurer in case of default, declines. Conversely, should prices fall, the risk increases. Moreover, if inter-est rates rise dramatically, or the borrower/home-owner experiences income interruption, the like-lihood of default increases. It’s all about risk; and how that risk is to be shared. Although I have my own opinions with respect to the method of ad-dressing these concerns, we only have to look to the United States to see what can happen if they are ignored.

On October 17, the federal government in-troduced new rules with respect to mortgages in excess of 80% of the value of the home. All such mortgages will be subject to a new “stress test”. Remember it’s about risk and who as-sumes it. Formerly, all applications for mortgages with variable interest rates and terms less than

5 years were sub-mitted as if the rate were the posted 5 year rate. The posted rate is a good deal higher than the rate the customer actu-ally receives, usually around 2.5%. Cur-rently, this posted rate is approximately 4.64%. Now all mortgages will be subject of this re-quirement.

As well, the gross debt service ratio (GDS) (carrying costs of the home over the income of the borrower) must not exceed 39%. The total debt service ratio (TDS) (carrying costs of home and all other debt) must not exceed 44%.

A lot has been written with respect to the antic-ipated effect the new rules will have on first time home buyers and the value of real estate gener-ally. I spoke to two very experienced mortgage specialists in the St. Thomas /Elgin area. Both pointed out that for some considerable period of time they have been applying the new interest rate stress test to all mortgages. As well, they have been apply-ing GDS and TDS ra-tios far below the new rule requirements. (32% and 40% re-spectively)

It seems, at least in our local market, mortgage specialists are and have been cautious. As the two people I spoke to pointed out, no one in the lending busi-ness wants to see a borrower getting in over their head. Ad-vice to those of you looking to purchase a home: Consult with a mortgage special-ist to determine how much you can bor-row before making any offers. In the St. Thomas/Elgin area, the new rules should have minimal impact on most buyers.

Toronto and Van-couver? Let’s see if the bubbles go bang or just gradually deflate. Or ... maybe just con-tinue to inflate.

Deflating the bubbles – carefully by Monty Fordham

Questions, comments and suggestions for future columns are welcomed by lawyer Monty Fordham at his office: Fordham & Brightling Associates – Law-yers, 4 Elgin Street, St. Thomas. Telephone 519- 633-4000, FAX 519-633-1371 or e-mail:

montyfordham@4elgin.caMonty Fordham

Rotary Club Of St. Thomas21st Annual

ChristmAs in the Countrytour of homes

www.rotarystthomas.org

november 11th, 12th & 13th

friday “Candlelight Preview”6 pm – 9 pm

saturday & sunday10 am – 4 pm

Tickets:$17.00 in advance,$20.00 at the doorForTickets & Info call

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Visit “4” Lovely Homes &CASO STATION Spectacular

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October, 2016 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 14

“all season tires arenot winter tires”

This column appears regularly in Business Beat and has been submitted by Cody Benner, RIB (ON), a Broker/Advisor at Reith & Associates Insurance and Financial Services Limited, 462 Talbot Street, St. Thomas. Ques-tions and comments on this

column are welcomed by the writer at 519-631-3862 or via e-mail: info@reithandassociates.com.

Cody Benner

Pro Text

With autumn closing, it is wise to prepare for the cold Ontario winter ahead. Winter can be hard on your vehicle and winterizing your car can help avoid the cost and hassle of a break-down during severe weather. Snow and sleet and freezing rain introduce a number of challenges to everyday life, not the least of which is simply keeping your car operating safely.

Here are 5 of the most important tips  to en-sure you are ready for the season ahead;

1. Winter tires. All four wheels need them regardless of whether it’s a front-wheel, rear-wheel, all-wheel, or four-wheel-drive. All-season tires are not winter tires. Insurance companies offer dis-counts on your policy for having winter tires – give your broker a call.

2. Battery test. If your car is over three years old, it might not necessarily need a new battery, but having it tested is a quick, harmless, and often free procedure (many shops include it with seasonal maintenance specials). Would you

rather find out you need a new battery when your vehicle is in for service at 2 p.m. or at, say 2:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in an empty parking lot when it’s -30 ºC without the wind chill?

3. Vision/Wipers. Windshield wipers, no matter how fancy or how much you pay for them

are a consum-able item. S h e a t h e d winter wiper blades will still freeze un-der extreme

conditions. Best to replace wipers blades every six months for optimum benefit.

4. Locks, Latches, doors. Before the deep freeze hits, take the time to lubricate door locks, latches, and hinges and treat the door and window seals. Silicone lubricating com-pound (available in aerosol cans in most auto parts stores) works well for mechanical and rub-

ber components. By spraying the door and window weather seals, they will be less likely to freeze you out on a cold winter morn-ing. Opt for the brand with a spray straw in order to get the spray into lock cylinders and down into the window glass channel-runs. Don’t forget hatchback lids or lift-gates and hoods.

5. trunk ne-cessities. If you mainly drive in urban areas there really isn’t

much need for a full-blown survival kit in the trunk. Food supplies like granola bars just at-tract vermin anyway. But everyone should have a full container of washer fluid, a light-weight snow shovel, lined work gloves, a good quality ice-scraper/snow brush combo, a flashlight that will stand or hang on its own, a set of emergency reflectors, a first-aid kit that can withstand freez-ing temperatures, and some folding traction mats.

If you drive an older vehicle you may want to step it up with a set of booster cables with in-structions on how to use them. Blankets, warm-ing candles and such should only be considered for longer trips; and always properly secure your cargo. For minivans, and SUVs that don’t have a cargo area separated from the passengers, all these items can become lethal projectiles in the event of a collision or roll-over if they’re not properly secured.

There are several things you can do right now to ensure your car operates successfully throughout the winter months as well as maximize your car’s ability to keep you and your family safe should a winter weather problem occur. An investment of an hour or two of preparation is all it takes to have peace of mind and avoid the cost and hassle of breaking down when the weather is bad.

Winter doesn’t have

to be so hard – if you

prepareearly

by Cody Benner

Same Old Face.A Fresh Face!!!

November, 2016 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 15

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Chamber News

The best in businessThe Chamber’s Business & Community Showcase proved a popular event for several hundred people on October 19 and another reason we are defi-nitely #StThomasProud. We welcomed over 60 exhibitors. If you missed it, you missed a lot! Our pictures here catch some highlights of the people and the place. TD Bank was our main sponsor. (Counter-clockwise from upper left) Chris Rajan is shown as he met with visitors to the TD display. Tara McCaulley was meeting and greeting at the Small Business Enterprise Centre’s booth. Railway City beer was sampled by several. myFM’s news, sales and management staff were there, including Account Executive Dave Thomson.

November, 2016 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 16

Mark Lassam, CPA, CA115 Curtis St., St.Thomas, ON N5P 1J4p: 519-631-1631 | f: 519-631-2929mark@lassam.ca

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P.0. Box 20155, St. Thomas (519) 633.0080 • rblaxall@sympatico.ca

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Member News

Business Development Bank of Canada148 Fullarton Street, Suite 1000London, ON N6A 5P3Phone: 519-645-4229Email: tausif.huda@bdc.ca; alice.watson@bdc.caWebsite: www.bdc.caContacts: Tausif Huda, Account Manager; Alice Watson, Client Relationship OfficerBuyers Guide Categories: Banking & Financial In-stitutionsProducts & Services: They are Canada’s business development bank and the only financial institution dedicated exclusively to entrepreneurs.Their mission is to help create and develop strong Canadian businesses through financing, advisory ser-vices and indirect financing, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.Through their subsidiary, BDC Capital, they also of-fer a full spectrum of specialized financing, including venture capital, equity as well as growth and business transition capital.

Cole-Munro Foods Group Inc.5 Barrie BoulevardSt. Thomas, ON N5P 4B9Phone: 519-637-6396Email: gcole@colemunro.com; scole@colemunro.comWebsite: www.colemunro.com Contacts: Geoff Cole, Owner; Susan Cole, OwnerBuyers Guide Categories: Food Processing, Manu-facturersProducts & Services: Eating freshwater fish has been a part of our Canadian heritage. Taste, nutrition and growing aquaculture production has made freshwa-ter Rainbow Trout more accessible.Geoff Cole and Todd Munro became aware of the growing production and consumer interest and in 1994 started Cole-Munro. They began processing and distributing Rainbow Trout in Port Stanley and, today, Geoff and Susan Cole continue to own and operate Cole-Munro from their main processing location in St. Thomas. Cole-Munro takes pride in

maintaining the tradition of fresh, locally produced and processed Rainbow Trout and strong family val-ues.

Forest of Flowers991 Talbot StreetSt. Thomas, ON N5P 1E9Phone: 519-207-7747Email: wecare@forestofflowersstthomas.comWebsite: www.forestofflowersstthomas.com Contacts: Becky Bryce, OwnerBuyers Guide Categories: Flowers-Retail, GiftwareProducts & Services: Forest of Flowers is a full-ser-vice florist offering exceptional value with “field fresh quality for less”. Whatever the occasion, ready-to-go or custom floral designs to suit any occasion, includ-ing personal special occasions, corporate needs, fu-nerals, and weddings, their talented floral designers create stunning wedding packages, with free con-sultations and on-site quotes to meet your unique dreams.

Messenger Freight Systems150 Dennis RoadSt. Thomas, ON N5P 0B6Phone: 519-631-9604Email: louise@messengerfreight.ca Website: www.messengerfreight.ca Contacts: Louise Vonk, President; Blaine Skirtschak, General Manager; Evan Wilson, Branch Manager - Cam-bridge; Kathy Salandziak, Director Safety & Op-erations; Max Trianto, Financial ControllerBuyers Guide Categories: Transporta-tion Services, Freight Services, Delivery Services, WarehousingProducts & Services: Messenger Freight Systems is headquartered in St. Thomas and now operates an additional facility in Cambridge. The St. Thomas operations serve multiple needs in freight and de-livery including long or short-term ware-housing in a secure 100,000 square-foot site and is fully equipped to interconnect between rail and truck transport ensuring safe, quick and cost-effective processing. Messenger can also provide repacking and sorting services.

Crystal Underhill EXT 234or Janet Palmer at EXT. 226

New Members The St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce proudly welcomes the following businesses and individuals as our newest Members. Those listed below were accepted as registered Members to September 16 – October 15, 2016. Once an organization registers with the Chamber, all personnel (owners/managers/staff) within the organization have full access to all Chamber programs, projects, events and services.