The Walkerville Business Improvement Area has new additions to the Board of Directors.
The BIA has announced new members and business owners to the Board, which is looking to keep ongoing improvements, safety initiatives, and positive experiences for the Walkerville community going.
Mike Bates, the owner of Refine Fitness, has been named the Chair of the Board.
He says he's looking forward to once again working with the Walkerville BIA alongside such great members, and wants to keep the focus on tourism, safety, and maintaining the Walkerville area to be vibrant and welcoming to all.
Bates says it's great to be a part of the BIA.
"We've been in Walkerville for 16 years now, and when we first opened up the business I was very involved with the BIA's for the first six or seven years and then just kind of got involved more with the business, and then stepped down. And we're just at a point where Jake Rondot, a good friend of mine who has been the Chair for a long time, asked me to get back involved."
He says he's excited to begin with all of the Board members.
"Shannon Gilbert from Flowers By Design has been on the board for, oh my gosh, probably over 20 years and she's great, very involved. And then a bunch of new people as well. So, I like it's a wide range of people and skill sets so I think we're going to be able to do some pretty neat things and really just play off, Walkerville is obviously going in a great direction so we just want to keep that trend going."
Outline map of the Walkerville Business Improvement Area. June, 2023 (Photo Credit: Courtesy of the City of Windsor website)
Bates says there is small list of things that he wants to look at improving or changing.
"Expanding our boundaries is certainly on our list of things we want to consider. Just as an example, Hiram Walker technically isn't in our BIA, which seems kind of silly as an example. So, we're going to work towards hopefully addressing some of those issues and then like a lot of areas of the city we've had issues with vandalism, and theft, so we want to do what we can to address that."
The Walkerville BIA district runs from Gladstone Avenue to Argyle Road, and from Riverside Drive East to Wyandotte Street.
The Board of Director positions have been elected as follows:
- Mike Bates, owner of Refine Fitness, Chair.
- Shannon Gilbert, owner of Flowers By Design, Vice Chair and Chair of the Event Committee.
- Giovanni Cassano, Manager of Ortona 1864 Café & Panino, Treasurer.
- Christa Gamble, owner of What's Poppin' Popcorn Factory, Secretary.
- Helena Ventrella, owner of Helena Ventrella Design Limited, Chair of the Beautification Committee.
- Emily Borland, board Marketing Coordinator.
Other members include: Matt Woods, owner of F&B Hospitality Group, Vince Rosati, VP of Project Development for Rosati Group, Michelle Maggio, owner of Vito's Pizzeria, and Mark Mckenzie, Ward 4 Councillor.
-with files from AM800's Rob Hindi