Biz NDG kicks off campaign with Euro events
By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban
Biz NDG got its game on and is leading a citywide project to promote local businesses, kicking it all off right here in NDG this past weekend. The local business association is running the VilleUnie program that it conceived and pitched to the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie, to unlock the power of local commerce in collaboration with Les Produits du Québec and benefit local product manufacturers, businesses, communities and Quebec as a whole. Simply put, VilleUnie works to keep wealth circulating locally.
Its first initiative was a wildly successful series of watch parties in NDG for the UEFA Euro 2024’s opening weekend in collaboration with many popular local businesses. Director-general Marc Chriqui told The Suburban that the kickoff encouraged people to buy local, get to know their merchants, and increase awareness of the various categories of Quebec products. It’s the first of what will be many such initiatives over the next year and a half, as Biz NDG received some $690,000 in funding from the ministry to help launch similar efforts in neighbouring boroughs across the island. The focus is to create an event partnering with local merchants, product makers and sellers.
There were 7 games happening and people were invited to watch games and use an online tool for the Score Prediction Contest to win $4000 worth of prizes. Several hundred participated as the venues screened all live matches, allowing the NDG community to come together and cheer for their favourite teams and feature outdoor exhibits for local businesses to showcase their products and services. Prize packages feature products made in Quebec and from NDG, gift cards, certificates and more from a large list of local businesses and service providers.
It was a success through and through, and community feedback was great say organizers. All venues drew participants with Typhoon Lounge and Café Mercanti the most popular locations with the most traffic. The England and Italy games were buzzing with the most contest entries.
“The vision we proposed includes collaboration with Les Produits du Québec which was created to demystify what a Quebec product is.” Indeed, the organization offers certifications to help people understand what they’re buying: i.e., products are designated as designed in Quebec, manufactured in Quebec, or if base materials are local then as a Quebec product.
The next local event will be at the Monkland pedestrian August 22-25. For more information visit https://bizndg.com/en/ and https://villeunie.com/en/home/ n
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