Bilan de l’année 2021

In December I always like to take the time to think about what we’ve accomplished, what we did well and what could use a little improvement. I think we can all agree that the last two years have been unpredictable. We assumed we would start to see more recovery work in 2021 but as a business community, we continue to experience the devastating effects of COVID-19 and the economic consequences of a global pandemic. Many people continued to work from their home offices, providing Orléans businesses with opportunities to cater to daytime shoppers, diners and those seeking services close to home. This year has been a busy, but a successful year for the BIA. We are very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in 2021 despite being in the middle of a pandemic and having some of our projects turned down. Among other achievements, some highlights included newly designed banners for our hydro poles, beautiful seasonal planters along with 5 new perennial beds, our flagship magazine, The Beat and our Behind the Business Campaign which allowed us to showcase our members. We were also thrilled to partner with the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition to bring you our very first outdoor event in eighteen months as well! We carried out advocacy work on COVID-19 support for small business with all three levels of government and created business support opportunities through partnerships, media connections and by extending The BIA Mentorship Program allowing businesses to connect with an expert at no cost. For a complete list of our 2021 accomplishments, please have a peek at our Annual Report. Despite the many initiatives completed in 2021, the Heart of Orléans BIA had also planned for numerous other projects that were unfortunately not approved by the City of Ottawa or the Ottawa Professional Fire Fighters Association. Some of these projects included:

• A pride crosswalk on Centrum Boulevard where Pride celebrations are held and the flag is raised (much like the one you see on Bank Street)
• Projection mapping onto the Shenkman Arts Centre to project pictures, important messaging, events, etc. (A similar concept to the sound and light show downtown)
• Fountains made from the water hydrants (much like you see in other cities)
• Painting the fire hydrants in BIA colours
• Vinyl wraps on the traffic light posts (much like you see in Toronto)
• The 3 evergreens in the roundabout lit up for Christmas
• Trees planted along the boulevard to replace the ones removed for LRT
• An electronic gateway sign that announced the various events in the BIA

One important lesson we learned in our Strategic Planning session this year was to concentrate on the items we can control. Therefore, although it was frustrating at times to receive these rejections to our proposals throughout the year, we moved forward rather quickly to other projects we could implement on our own without special permission. And, even though some of our projects were not allowed to move forward in 2021, the BIA board came up with a wish list that was distributed to the 2 councillors who sit on our board for consideration for the 2022 budget this fall. In November, we had a very promising board meeting where both Councillors’ Dudas and Luloff agreed to help the BIA jump through some of the hurdles and actualize the items on our wish list which was very encouraging to hear. Over the past twelve months, we have not only collaborated with the various levels of government but we also connected and worked with our BIA members within the district. We have learned more about each other and the pandemic has definitely brought us all closer together. Our membership truly is the backbone of the Orléans economy and we’re always in awe of their success and commitment to our community. We look back with a sense of accomplishment, and ahead with recovery expectations. We still have a lot of work to do but have every confidence that we will end our fight with COVID-19 and start to thrive and grow to become the vibrant destination known as The Heart of Orléans.