Success Stories in Rural Oportunities

DELTA - The family behind Mensen Farm knows the meaning of hard work, dedication and giving back to their community. Susie and Garry Mensen started with a berry patch 25 years ago and have continued to expand their product line and reputation ever since.

You may have heard the saying that in order for a new leaf to grow, the dead one needs to be pushed off the branch. For Scott Sabramsky, this idea resonated and inspired a new Lennox and Addington County business that grows more every day. Deadleaf Distinguished Gentlemen is hidden away behind an unassuming black doorway on the main shopping street of Napanee, Ontario. While the facade is discrete and understated, the inside is truly something unique, harking back to the days of barber shops, hot shaves, whisky, and blues. Their space includes a retail area, barber shop, pool table, and a fully stocked whisky bar, or “waiting room” as they call it.

Giving someone you care about an item that is unique, thoughtful, and handmade is rewarding. Making it yourself is even better, but if your crafting and DIY skills need some work, there is no shame in letting someone else do the handy work for you. Enter Lennox and Addington's Stone City Woodworks. For owner and craftsman Rob Purvis, Stone City Woodworks began as a hobby, making and giving small handmade items to friends and family. He never imagined it would become something more. “The ability to give someone something that is better than they were expecting, and to see their reaction, is what made this so addicting,” said Rob, sitting in his new retail space.

Characteristics that make for a good and potentially successful small business owner include flexibility, a sense of timing, passion, and a willingness to put in the hours and sweat equity necessary to make an enterprise thrive. Dana Deathe (pronounced ‘deeth’) has always wanted to own a bookstore, and in particular the neat little bookstore nestled onto Market Street in the heart of Fenelon Falls. The City of Kawartha Lakes community has always been the home of Deathe’s family’s cottage, and thus a favourite spot to visit throughout her youth.

big river technologies inc. is a high-tech company that provides services and solutions for some of the most complicated financial services computing needs, partnering with top international banking firms to develop a reputation for excellence, for innovation and adaptability.   What makes the success of this very sophisticated and specialized firm is its home. It is not based in California’s famed Silicon Valley or Canada’s equivalent in British Columbia. Nor is it housed in a giant office tower in Toronto, Montreal, New York or London. Instead it is blissfully ensconced within the picturesque eastern Ontario community of Gananoque.

As a singer-songwriter, performing as Evening Hymns, Jonas Bonnetta found living in Toronto was a good way to become part of the Canadian indie music scene, but he came from a rural background near Peterborough, and said he always knew he would eventually leave the city. This led him to move to Tay Valley several years ago, although he was drawn back to Toronto a lot, and was touring most of the year as well. On one of those trips to Toronto along Hwy. 7, he turned off at Mountain Grove Road to see a property he had heard about through a real estate website. The property is very close to the highway, but is still pretty secluded. It has a treed canopy entrance-way leading to a small house and an outbuilding on a piece of land that is adjacent to a larger farm. He hasn’t looked back.

Turning inspiration into art takes great talent, patience and dedication. Taking it one big step further and turning this creative impetus into a successful handmade business takes a further set of skills, as well as even more patience, dedication and courage. Jodie Hames, owner of Clayworks Pottery in Bethany, ON, possessed the former cache of characteristics in abundance for most of her life. She later learned to develop the acumen necessary to create a handmade business – not just once, but twice.

A former church nestled in the village of Enterprise, the setting could not be more fitting for the quirky collection of salvaged architectural objects showcased at Salvage Garden. Giving new life to old objects and materials is the methodology of Salvage Garden business owners David Wood and Andrew Halkewycz. Working directly with collectors, designers, builders, and do it yourselfers; Salvage Garden has an eclectic inventory of factory windows, tin ceilings, industrial lighting, advertising signage, tables, seating, vintage metal cabinets and an abundance more.

Every small town has that one local icon, a location or venue that is rife with memories for locals and with a rich historical background that draws interest from visitors from the surrounding community and beyond.  In Smiths Falls, that icon is Davidson Courtyard, once home to the well-known Davidson Bakery and today a popular destination for shopping and dining in Smiths Falls.

Since opening the business in 1996, and reviving a struggling 200-year-old feed mill in the process, Wilton Tack has become the ‘go to’ source for local farmers and pet owners. Whether looking for quality feed, or the latest gear and apparel for horse owners Wilton Tack is the place to shop. It’s location at 308 Simmons Road, just outside Odessa is a haven for equestrian aficionados but also a growing number of the region’s farm families.