After years of operating out of pop-up locations, Business Sisters is thrilled to have a space to call home. On Tuesday afternoon, February 28, special guests and dignitaries attended the official ribbon cutting and grand opening of the new Business Sisters’ Centre in Alexandria. In spite of poor winter conditions, the sisterhood of female entrepreneurs gathered to mark the organization’s new milestone in the evening.
In 2017, Executive Director Doreen Ashton Wagner founded this social enterprise whose goal is to provide advisory services, training and networking for rural female business owners. After receiving a $100,000 grant from Desjardins in July, they were able to start looking for their future hub. “We are very fortunate to sublease our shared office space with le Centre culturel Les trois p’tits points,” said Wagner. “Moving from a pop-up office to a permanent space is great! This will allow us to meet one on one with business owners and be our new venue for local workshops.” Wagner mentioned that the biggest bonus is to have main street visibility so that business owners know that we are here as a resource to help and support them. We are really looking to develop bilingual mentorship and the whole aspect of collaboration for women in the region.
Last year, Business Sisters hosted over 200 participants from SD&G and Prescott Russell over the course of eight networking events. They have nine sessions planned for 2023, and are eager to host the return of their Annual Conference for Eastern Ontario.
Serving SD&G and Prescott Russell, Business Sisters exists to connect women entrepreneurs so they can support one another, learn and succeed together. The new Business Sister’s Centre is located at 213 Main St. N., in Alexandria. For more information, visit business-sisters.ca.
