Brandon Downtown BIZ

Emmy here... The BIZ is a membership based organization and it's 2025 membership drive time. Not the easiest time of year for me as it's sometimes hard for me to find the best words to explain why a business, organization, or individual should become a member of the BIZ. Then today I realized... I don't have to find the words. Our members have already done that for us. BIZ membership is a statement for change, hope, and vibrancy. The more members we have, the louder our voice is and the more we are showing that our downtown really, truly matters. To the 120+ businesses, organizations, and individuals who have shown their support by becoming BIZ members, thank you. I don't have words enough to express my gratitude. 2024 was unreal, and with your continued (reasonably priced!) memberships, 2025 is going to be magic. Thank you thank you thank you ❤️Sincerely, Emmy Sanderson ~ Executive Director of the Brandon Downtown BIZ ❤️ PS. While the vast majority of our members are downtown based businesses, we have a magical group of members who aren't located downtown, but believe in our downtown and want to show their support. Anyone who supports our downtown and the work the BIZ is doing is welcome to join! https://lnkd.in/debEQ-JN

The BIZ has turned 1 and what is a birthday without presents.... and we just had to share this amazing BIZ present 🤩We've said it before and we will say it again... we have all the fun downtown!! I cannot not even tell you how fun it was to collaborate with our downtown friends and create this memory. Huge thank you to Ja-On Hillman, James Chambers, and Grant Hamilton for being models (and coming up with the idea!) and Robert Lovatt for making our vision come to life. (And big thanks to all the traffic we had to dodge for not hitting us during the dozens of attempts to get this shot right!!) We love downtown, and we aren't blind to some of the challenges, but the cooperation, support, creativity, and downright good time we have down here makes it a magical place to be.

Great turnout yesterday for the Mayor's Book Club at the downtown library!!! So many great conversations and perspectives. Was too busy being engaged to take many pictures, but huge thanks to the team from Brandon University for providing expert thoughts, Mayor Jeff Fawcett for bringing people and ideas together, to the Western Manitoba Regional Library for facilitating and hosting, and to everyone who came out to participate (whether they had read the book or not!) Looking forward to the next one!!

Walking around the downtown with great company and falling leaves may just top the BIZ list of "Best Ways to Spend an Autumn Afternoon". And the cherry on top was one special addition... the BIZ would like to officially welcome Sara (rainbow headband lady) to the BIZ gang!!! Sara has joined Emmy in all things BIZ!!! Including downtown lunch walks of course, and so much more behind the scenes. It's no small task sharing all the great things about our downtown and the BIZ team continues to work every day to support our downtown businesses, organizations, residents, and community as a whole. If you see Sara out and about (typically without the headband), say hello!! She brings a passion for downtown, excellent organizational skills, and a keen ability to keep Emmy reigned in. Welcome Sara!!!

Just a sampling of some of the great events downtown this week!! For all our students who have settled back in to school, get your head out of the books and come join us for some budget friendly events like Karaoke, Chess, a Pub Quiz, and our downtown's Dark History Tour!! Start your Christmas shopping and get some unique finds at Cafe Do Good's pop-ups. Celebrate with our friends at the WMCA for their 55th anniversary week. And no need to sit at home on Sunday with Westman Immigrant Services Multi-Cultural Cafe and I Want That Stuff's Pokémon Tournament. As aways, something for everyone downtown!! All the details at www.brandondowntown.biz

Summer is done and we are looking forward to the next round of BIZ adventures, but an end of summer photo round-up seemed in order! Starting with a selfie inception shot with Grant Hamilton and Charlie, a perfect summer eve pub crawl, Tuesday Downtown Lunch Walk (every Tuesday still, everyone welcome!), giving downtown tours to groups like the gang from the Winnipeg Downtown Community Safety Partnership, rolling up our sleeves for some community beautification, BIZ placing a solid 5th place in the Spelling Bee with Barry Cooper and many fine BIZ members, scheming downtown improvements with two of my favorite downtownies, and last but not least, huge thank you to our friends at the City of Brandon for making a beautiful mess of our sidewalks... thrilling to see the crews out working hard to maintain the character of our downtown... can't wait to see the finished product!!

Quite the mixed bag of events this week! A little Hallowe'en starting to creep in at Black Wheat Brewing, and get registered for the free Fall Preservation course to learn all about storing and preserving your garden harvest! The WMCA is back in full swing and as always there is no shortage of things to do downtown!! All these events and more at www.brandondowntown.biz

Judging by the nature of our downtown events, Autumn has officially begun! So many fantastic courses starting this week, be sure to check them out and get signed up in time for the first class. Show off your spelling skills at Kickin' Axe (and support a great cause!), then grab the last of summer with a Community BBQ celebrating Welcoming Week and multiculturalism at Stanley Park on Friday. Never a shortage of things to do in our downtown!!! Get all the details on our website at www.brandondowntown.biz

Hang on to summer for one more week with fantastic weather and downtown events!!! Don't miss the final Downtown Cruise Night and Downtown Summer Market!! And no need to leave town this weekend with the September Sender and DOWNTOWN FAMILY BLOCK PARTY!!!! We might be a bit excited about the Block Party... it's going to be an amazing afternoon... keep an eye on social media for all the Block Party details and head to our website for all the other great happenings!! www.brandondowntown.biz

Last week to catch a few of our downtown summer happenings... the final Music in the Park and the final Yoga in the Park this week :( But fear not! Still plenty to get up to and summer has a few fun downtown summer events up it's sleeve yet. Plus the indoor happenings are starting to fill up the calendar! Get all the details on our website at www.brandondowntown.biz