February 28, 2019 · 0 Comments
By Brian Lockhart
Members of the business community as well as community leaders met for the annual Industry Luncheon hosted by the Dufferin Board of Trade, The Home Builders Association, and the Rotary Club of Orangeville.
The Luncheon was held at the Best Western in Orangeville on Thursday, February 21.
“This is a networking and business event to connect business leaders and political leaders in Dufferin County with the keynote speaker and with each other, so they have an opportunity to network and mingle and to also hear the inspirational keynote speaker,” explained Dufferin Board of Trade general manager, Diana Morris.
The Board of Trade serves to connect businesses in the region.
“We are the local connector of small businesses,” Ms. Morris said. “We connect small businesses with each other, with the resources that they need, and we advocate on behalf of those needs.”
Each year the luncheon features a keynote speaker of note.
“Last year we had Steve Paikin from TVO’s The Agenda, that was an awesome event. We’ve had Doug Ford before. In 2016 we had someone who had climbed Mount Everest, so every year we have someone who has an interesting story and someone who offers inspiration. We’ve had quite few high profile speakers over the years. Luckily enough, through our connection with RBC, who is our sponsor, they are the ones who the Olympians, so that was an excellent theme for us this year.”
This year the keynote speaker was Canadian Olympian, Korey Jarvis.
Jarvis has participated in the Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, and is a national champion.
As keynote speaker, Jarvis told his story of being encourage to try wrestling by a friend. He spoke of the dedication he has given to his sport, and of his eventual return after taking time off from competing.
The annual luncheon has been going on for around 25 years and has a wide variety of sponsors.
The Home Builders Association in particular has wide reaching connections because of the nature of a business that connects with the trades, lumber suppliers, cement suppliers, furnace and air condition contractors and the many different businesses that contribute to the industry.
In attendance were many local business people, political leaders, and leaders of different organizations from the region.