Local entrepreneur Roger Tumminieri is seeking a Grey Highlands seat council in this election.
Tumminieri is a publisher of community-based print publications supporting local businesses, including a monthly lifestyle magazine for Grey Highlands called Hello Country Magazine.
Tumminieri grew up in Toronto and attended Agincourt Collegiate Institute, where he was an Ontario Scholar and captained the school's rugby, hockey, and football teams. Tumminieri earned a degree in economics from Queen’s University while playing varsity rugby. He spent his early career working in Toronto's financial sector.
Tumminieri, who also goes by the nickname of “Papa Country,” jokes that he once wore a suit and tie every day to work on Bay Street, but now he gets around just fine with a pair of jeans, Blundstones, and a hoodie by Grey County Apparel Company; one of several new businesses he started during the pandemic. Tumminieri enjoys the challenge and rewards of starting new businesses and hopes to promote local pride through editorial and apparel.
Tumminieri lives on a horse farm outside Flesherton with his wife, Jessica, and their two school-aged boys. He started publishing Hello Country Magazine in 2020 in order to continue the work he started in 2015 with the Etobicoke Lakeshore Press in West Toronto, this time supporting local businesses and farmers in Grey Highlands.
He views being a member of council as an opportunity to further serve the community of Grey Highlands.
“I want to be a part of something bigger than myself that will make a positive impact on our community over the next four years," Tumminieri said. "Being a councillor in Grey Highlands will allow me to expand my capacity to serve our community while ensuring that our municipality is environmentally responsible, accountable to our taxpayers, and transparent in all its dealings.”
In his work as a local magazine publisher, Tumminieri has seen firsthand the challenges small business owners have faced and continue to face even after COVID restrictions have been lifted. He understands what it's like to be creative, work hard, and do a lot with a little.
Grey Highlands voters can find out more about Tumminieri and his campaign for council at his website here.
