The Thornbury Business Improvement Area (BIA) board is looking for new board members to take on leadership roles in the organization.
The Town of The Blue Mountains will soon be advertising for new directors to serve on the 2022-2026 BIA board of directors. Nominations will be held at the BIA’s meeting on November 2 at 8 a.m. in the council chambers at town hall.
George Matamoros, owner of The Diamond Studio, has served as the chair of the BIA board for the past 12 years and he is retiring from the role. Two other current board members are also stepping away at the end of this term.
“I’ve attended the meetings since 2004 when I opened the store. It’s time for new blood and new ideas,” said Matamoros.
The role of the BIA is the beautification of the downtown business area and to attract visitors. The organization is responsible for downtown banners, flowers, lights and decorations on the light and utility poles and events, such as Old Fashioned Christmas, to draw visitors to the downtown area.
The BIA boundary stretches west to Foodland, east to OK Tire, north to the waterfront (but does not include the Royal Harbour) and south to the former location of the Dam Pub. The board consists of a minimum of six members and a maximum of nine members. One of the members is a council representative.
The board holds monthly meetings at the council chambers.
“We come up with a budget. We decide what we want to do and what it costs and come up with the levy,” said Matamoros. “The role of the board is to spend the money. We’re fully accountable. We follow all the town guidelines, we can’t suddenly spend on something we haven’t budgeted for.”
Matamoros said over the past number of years the BIA has advanced and grown as an organization and has developed an excellent partnership with the town. He said when he first joined the total budget was about $30,000, half of which was repayment of a loan. Today, the budget is around $120,000 a year and the BIA has a part-time coordinator to assist with the work.
“The town has been extremely helpful. They have really upped their game,” said Matamoros. “We meet at the council chambers, we’ve been trained for procedures. Everything was brought up to a much more professional level. The town has allocated resources to help the BIA. That was huge.”
Matamoros said the next big step for the incoming BIA board will be getting the coordinator position to be a full-time job in some form. He said the new board is well-positioned for the future.
“It would be great to have somebody who has experience running a BIA,” he said. “The pressure on the business owners is just going to go up in terms of traffic and people. The town has really come on board, [CAO] Shawn Everitt has done a really good job of realizing what is important. The environment the new directors are coming into is great. It’s a good environment.”
Matamoros is hopeful new directors with a passion for supporting local business will get involved and he’s hopeful that business owners from outside the traditional Bruce Street downtown core will also get involved.
“It’s about the health of your community. The BIA is so important for the ongoing health of the community,” he said. “The BIA is at a place where it’s on a springboard ready to go forward. We need people with drive and ideas.”
