Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Day, celebrated annually on June 27, is a unique opportunity to celebrate and recognize businesses in the region and promote their contributions, growth and sustainability in our communities. 

Dania Maisonneuve - Local Journalism Initiative

For the occasion, Stephanie Pete of Art and Dream Studio in Vankleek Hill and Élisabeth Arbaud of CàB Café in Chute-à-Blondeau joined us to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats they face as local business owners in rural areas. 

For new entrepreneurs, settling in a small town in Eastern Ontario is an excellent opportunity to make their mark and contribute in their own way to the development of their community. Stephanie Pete explains “I’m offering a place where youth can come to express themselves and be creative. I know that this is one of the things that is important in sustainable cities.”

Furthermore, in small communities like Chute-à-Blondeau and Vankleek Hill, having businesses that bring the community together is a huge benefit to the region. By bringing the community together, we enable people to discover each other and give them an opportunity to start a dialogue to make them stronger. “That’s one of the reasons why we opened the café. We felt that the community was really wanting to get together and really wanting to see their neighbors." explain Élisabeth Arbaud.

Yet, while being a rural business allows companies to develop strengths that are unique to them, such as offering their customers a place where they feel welcome and at ease, rural life also brings its share of challenges and pitfalls.

Indeed, low population levels in their respective regions certainly make growth opportunities more difficult for these two entrepreneurs. By having more difficulty reaching a wide variety of customers, they find it harder to grow and fulfill all their dreams. 

Furthermore, with fewer resources available for hiring, Ms. Pete and Ms. Arbaud find themselves having to take on a huge variety of tasks, making their workload much more demanding. The lack of support from cities and governments makes their work much more difficult.