Ontario East Success Stories | Page 7 | Ontario East

Ontario East Success Stories

The Cove Country Inn

Investment Tourism sector
There is always something new to experience at The Cove Country Inn. It could be a night out at the popular Blues on the Rideau, a concert series benefitting local causes, Wings 'n Tunes Wednesdays, Jazz Night or a special menu event like the March 9th Thai Food and Wine Dinner. The Cove, winner of the 2016 South Eastern Ontario Wedding Awards Best Accommodation prize, is keeping true to being a community hub and a fun destination. 
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The Lodge Coffee House

Rural Opportunties sector
When Lauren Gamble returned to her home and native land of Canada after working in Australia for a number of years, she brought back a wealth of wonderful friendships and life-affirming experiences – and a deep and abiding appreciation for the café culture that was embedded in everyday life for most Aussies. Blessed with an prodigious work ethic and an entrepreneurial mind, Gamble decided she wanted to open and run her own coffee shop somewhere in L&A County – a place with a unique style and tone. It would be a welcoming place, with great coffee, home-made eats and a true gathering spot for the community.
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Eganridge Resort, Golf Club and Spa

Investment Tourism sector
Nestled in the lush, lake strewn landscape of the City of Kawartha Lakes, Eganridge Resort, Country Club and Spa is an upscale boutique resort that offers some of the finest dining experiences, wedding extravaganzas, corporate outings and accommodations in the region, and is also an example of a business that has adapted to changing times and tastes.
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Milkhouse Farm and Dairy

Food Processing sector
Cheese, yum!  There are few greater culinary pleasures than a really good artisanal cheese served with a nutty cracker and a glass of wine.  Anywhere I go I look for local cheeses.  So it was with great delight that I sampled and then fell in love with Milkhouse Farm and Diary sheep cheeses, made in Montague.  Not only are these absolutely delightful cheeses to serve with bread, crackers or add to your favourite soup, salad or potatoes, they’re easier to digest.   “A lot of people find it easier to digest; the sugars are different, so it’s not lactose free just easier to digest,” says Caitlyn White, who with her husband Kyle is a cheese maker at Milkhouse Farm and Dairy.
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Big Rideau Lake Boat Rentals

Investment Tourism sector
Heather and Rob Heins love being on the water so they have made it their business to get you out cruising the Rideau Canal Waterway. The couple started Big Rideau Lake Boat Rentals 21 years ago. “My family built the very first sailing ships ever built in Canada, with the first one named the Miramichi, so being on the water is in my blood,” says Heather.
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Addison's Restaurant

Investment Tourism sector
From the age of 14, Melissa Evans dreamed of owning her own restaurant. Eight years ago, after many years of training and working her way through various jobs in the hospitality industry, her dream became a reality. She took over an existing restaurant in Northbrook, revamping it into a homespun family eatery now known as Addison’s.
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Mallorytown's Landing and Donnelly's Restaurants

Investment Tourism sector
It’s an old adage in life and in business that sometimes something really good can come out of trying circumstances. For Brockville native Dale Donnelly, when a long-term position came to an end, one that seemed like it could be the job from which he retired, he simply ‘pivoted’ and chose to become his own boss.
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Mayhew Jewellers

Rural Opportunties sector
Marlene Sweet had dutifully worked for Mayhew Jewellers for nearly 30 years when owner John Mayhew decided it was time to retire. She had worked hard in every aspect of the business, developing a loyal customer base along the way. For a short period of time she worried that for the first time in ages, she may have to dust of her resume and hit the job-search trail. But knowing how valuable she was to the success of the business, Mayhew chose instead to make Sweet an offer he knew she would jump at.
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Pasta Tavola Benefits from Bay of Quinte Region Location and Support

Food Processing sector
For Pasta Tavola, Victoria and Paula Watts’ pasta manufacturing & fresh food company, location is essential. In Belleville, part of the Bay of Quinte Region, the sisters have been able to affordably purchase their own retail and processing premises; even better, they are situated between—and in close proximity to—Ontario’s largest markets for wholesale food processing: Ottawa and Toronto.
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Canarmony

Advanced Manufacturing sector
As entrepreneurs go, Shahram Yousefi is something of a paradox – a “black sheep,” as he puts it. Most entrepreneurs hope to strike it rich. Not that he’d mind, probably, but first and foremost, the professor in Queen’s department of electrical and computer engineering is looking for solutions to problems. Entrepreneurs are single-minded. Once they have an idea, they clamp on like an angry pit bull, to the exclusion of everything else. He has not one but two seemingly different ideas, both of which he is passionate about. And, in a world where new ideas and products are hailed for their “disruptive” potential, he says that, at the root of what he does is “my passion for harmony.” Speaking by phone from California where he is currently on sabbatical, the passion of his work comes through. And Innovation Park is helping him realize it.
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