Celebrating Women in Business Nominees and Winners in Barrie - Congrats Shannon!

There was enough girl power in the room to keep the lights on.

The seventh annual Women in Business event at the Barrie Country Club – that began with a neighbourhood power outage – was handled with enough aplomb and humour to set the mood for the women's business award ceremony, Thursday.

From a humorous keynote address by the newly minted Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood, to the quick wit of KOOL FM's Dale Smith as master of ceremonies, the 200 women and men in attendance enjoyed a relaxed, well-organized luncheon and charity auction that raised $7,680 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

“That's the most money we've raised to date for the cancer society,” said Barrie Examiner publisher and event organizer Sandy Davies.

“It is so nice to honour the women in our community, because so many of them work so hard and don't get the recognition for what they've accomplished. I'm glad I don't have to decide who wins the Woman of the Year award – that's a separate committee – because there are so many deserving businesswomen.”

The Woman of the Year award went to Jane DeCola of Brabary on Commerce Park Drive.

DeCola said she was both shocked and honoured by the award.

“Did you not see the list? There are a lot of women here who are very deserving,” DeCola said.

In the business of sizing and selling women's undergarments, DeCola said she started her business more than eight years ago because she was tired of driving to Toronto for the same service.

With several full and part-time staff, DeCola said their mandate is to take the guess work out of bra-fittings and sell quality products.

DeCola is also an avid community volunteer with several charities including Hospice Simcoe, Relay for Life and the Canadian Cancer Society.

Laurie Crosson offered her services as a business coach and said she simply helped DeCola focus in on her own strengths.

“She's so open to assessing her own challenges and finding ways to overcome them, it's wonderful to see her win this award,” Crosson said.

Kathy Currie-Eyres won the Heart & Soul award. She was out of the province, so her daughter accepted the award on her behalf.

And Christina Petsinis of Lakehead University, and a former Innisdale Secondary School student, won the Future Woman of the Year award.

Not only is Petsinis an honour student and recipient of the President's Scholarship, she was also recognized for helping to create the Sportapalooza event at Innisdale for several hundred special needs children.

In her address, Greenwood spoke of being one of 110 women in a mix of 5,000 men at the Metropolitan Toronto Police force when she started more than 30 years ago.

Greenwood said she had many firsts, including the first woman to run the community response unit, the first female staff sergeant to take maternity leave, the first female commander of one of the busiest divisions in Toronto, the first director of the Toronto Police College and the first female chief of police in Barrie.

She spoke of her early years wearing a skirt and a silly cap, having to share the public washroom with prisoners (because there were no women's facilities), as well as working undercover to portray a bank teller and having to tackle a bank robber when he held up the bank.

Yet, as much as she spoke of her early days as an officer, she now believes the “brass ceiling has been smashed” and that policing is an exciting career for women to chose for a profession.

“In my heart, I believe in Canada, decisions are not made on race, not made on gender and not made on culture,” she said. “I used to say I want to make a difference and now I want to be that difference.”

After the power was restored and lunch was served by staff who gave no indication they had been getting by using just gas stoves and generators, auctioneer Scott Ward ran a vigorous auction with items donated by local businesses.

One of the most popular items bid upon was the four-hour tactical unit training experience with the Barrie Police Service that began at $300 and was eventually sold to Shannon Murree of Re/Max Chay for $3,000.

Thanks Barrie Examiner!

Article - Province hasn't made any decision on if Barrie will get a new campus

Ontario's Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities has not made any decisions about new university campuses, and that includes Barrie.

There's not even a short list of communities where new campuses could be built. The process is still at the planning of policy stage.

“We are developing a policy on the creation of new campuses and the major expansion of existing campuses,” said ministry spokesman Gyula Kovacs. “The new policy will help ensure sustainable growth and innovation in Ontario’s post-secondary education system and is particularly important in this period of fiscal restraint.”

Ontario's Liberal government is running a $15-billion-plus deficit, at last count.

Asked if the province has made any decisions on new university campuses in Ontario, Kovacs' answer was “no.”

It was the same answer about any approved, current funding in any provincial budget to pay for any new university campuses.

“The ministry is continuing to develop a policy to guide major capacity expansions,” he said. “Funding sources for capital investments will be determined at a later date.”

The Liberals promised to build three new Ontario university undergraduate campuses in the 2011 Throne Speech.

A Canadian Press story identified Barrie, Milton and Brampton as sites to be picked, although the province did not confirmed them at the time.

City council asked the province to designate Barrie as a site for the province's next university campus.

“Several communities and institutions have contacted the ministry to request information about the forthcoming policy or to communicate an interest in developing a new campus,” Kovacs said. “However, at this time, no decisions have been made.”

Sudbury-based Laurentian University, which already partners with Georgian College in Barrie, has a 2012-2017 strategic plan which includes a downtown campus here.

With a downtown Barrie campus, Laurentian wants to significantly increase its full-time enrolment, better integrate classroom learning with real-world experience and increase its proportion of international students.

Laurentian has pledged $14 million toward the $60-million campus, as has Barrie city council. The campus requires about 20 acres of land for a 162,000-square-foot facility, with a private student residence and 500 on-site parking spaces for 3,000 students, or 2,500 full-time equivalents.

But the province still needs to pick Barrie as one of the new university campus sites, fund its share of the cost to build it and pay the operating expenses – salaries, benefits, etc.

Source - Bruton - Barrie Examiner

#Barrie - Little Lake Health Centre - Great Facility for Seniors and Dementia, etc

A unique seniors community for Barrie is one step closer to reality after a groundbreaking ceremony, Friday morning.

The $90-million Little Lake Seniors Community and Health Centre will be located on 11 acres of land near Duckworth Street and Cundles Road East. It will feature three integrated buildings, including a community health centre, a retirement residence and an adult/seniors lifestyle condo.

The development will provide a range of living options from independent condos to assisted living along with "exemplary health care" that will optimize seniors’ health and minimize the need for hospital-based care, according to spokeswoman Shannon Puna.

"The health centre (and its) wellness services will focus on keeping our population healthy," she said. "It will be a state-of-the-art, community-based regional health centre and will be geared to seniors' services and people with complex needs. It will be considered a one-stop shop, a centre of excellence, and will integrate all the health and wellness services in one facility."

Puna said the health centre will be closely affiliated with Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network, Georgian College, and Barrie and Community Family Health Team.

"Little Lake Health Centre is led and funded by physicians and partners with strong ties to the local community and unsurpassed dedication and enthusiasm for this project," she said. "This exceptional care model will reduce the need for hospital-based services, allow for a smoother transition from hospital to community, and reduce the duplication of services in hospital and in the community."

The health centre will also have minor surgery, diagnostic imaging, a lab and pharmacy, home health-care services, family doctors, specialists, a health and wellness clinic, rehabilitation facilities as well as chiropractic, optometry and dentistry services, Puna added.

The 160-unit, five-storey retirement home will be located on the far eastern portion of the property. It will also have services for assisted living and comprehensive care for people with dementia.

The centre part of the property will have 250 seniors' condo units, ranging up to eight storeys and focus on independent adults and seniors.

Construction of the health centre is already underway and is expected to be completed by next summer. The retirement home will take 16 to 18 months to complete and the condominiums will be completed last.

Also affecting this area of the city is the $44-million road and highway ramp reconstruction of Duckworth Street and Cundles Road East, along with Highway 400, which has already begun.

Source - Ian Barrie Examiner

PROJECT AT A GLANCE:

• Little Lake Seniors Community and Health Centre is a $90 million development at Cundles Road East and Duckworth Street.
• It will feature three integrated buildings: a community health centre, a retirement residence and an adult/seniors lifestyle condo.
• The Health Centre will have minor surgery, diagnostic imaging, a lab and pharmacy, home healthcare services, family doctors, specialists, a health and wellness clinic, rehabilitation facilities as well as chiropractic, optometry and dentistry services
• The 160-unit, five-storey hight retirement home will also have services for assisted living and comprehensive care for people with dementia