After more than ten years operating out of the corner office of the Riverbank Discovery Centre, Brandon First will be expanding its footprint with a move to the newly renovated Dome Building as of June 1st, 2018.   Brandon First has been steadily outgrowing its current space as the organization continues to expand its operations. “With the growing number of event room nights our office processes, and in particular the increased need for meetings with the event planning community, we knew we were going to need more space,” advises Graham Harvey, Executive Director of Brandon First. “When this opportunity came up, the organizational needs, strategic benefits, location, and historic significance just made it make sense.” The Riverbank Discovery Centre space provided a critical start-up and incubation location for Brandon First to grow from one staff to two and to accomplish some truly impressive event recruitment for the city. Such events include, but are not limited to, the 2010 Memorial Cup, the 2017/2018 Royal Canadian Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships, and the upcoming 2018 Brandon Comic Con and the 2019 Tim Horton’s Brier. Looking ahead, Brandon First and Brandon Tourism will continue to enjoy the benefits of their long and positive relationship, particularly as Brandon’s new tourism place brand is launched in the coming months. Event recruiting initiatives involving both organizations will continue as Brandon First promotes the community as the best place to hold an event and Brandon Tourism welcomes guests to those events and shares all the great experiences Brandon has to offer. “Right back to 1913, when the Dome Building was originally built as the site of the Dominion Fair, Display Building Number II has had a role in Brandon’s unique event tourism history,” says Harvey. “We are so delighted that the Provincial Exhibition restored the glory of this magnificent building to allow us to carry on that tradition.” By taking possession of the two office units upstairs that will be the new base of operations for Brandon First, the move is anticipated to accommodate organizational growth and provide the opportunity to better network within the Agricultural event sector, one of Brandon First’s key target event markets. Brandon First is excited and very much looking forward to setting up the new space, while working with stakeholders in a continued and consistent manner to bring events to Brandon. Office hours will remain the same: 8:30 – 4:30, Monday to Friday as will email and phone contact information for staff. The new mailing address for the Brandon First office is as follows. Brandon First Second Floor – Exhibition Building No. 2 1200 – 13th Street Brandon, MB R7A 4S8

Source: Assiniboine Community College Blog Country Ventures Repair & Maintenance has donated a used truck tractor worth nearly $26,000 for hands-on learning by students in the Heavy Duty Equipment program at Assiniboine Community College. The donation of the 2011 Freightliner Cascadia, containing all the most modern emissions systems, “is a real plus for every program from pre-employment to all levels of apprenticeship. This donation is a huge score for our programs and will be used for many years,” said instructor Marty Zuzens. The truck tractor rolled through more than 900,000 km during its working life, hauling freight from Winnipeg to California. Country Ventures has made several key donations to the college over the years. The Brandon company is a family-run business owned and operated by Darren Boychuk. His parents, Dave and Shirley Boychuk, are still actively involved in the business. Country Ventures operates a fleet of trucks and repairs and maintains trucks owned by other operators. Posing beside the 2011 Freightliner Cascadia truck tractor donated by Country Ventures are (from left) Assiniboine instructor Marty Zuzens, Darren, Dave and Shirley Boychuk of Country Ventures, Assiniboine Mechanical Trades Chair Dennis White and Assiniboine Dean of Trades & Technology Barry Gooden.

We are very sorry to confirm that the tragic fire of May 19th has completely destroyed our building on Pacific Avenue in Brandon. We are naturally devastated by this loss, but we are relieved to say that all employees and customers were evacuated from the premises safely.  At this point, we have no information on how the fire started. Although it  is still early in the process, the beginnings of a plan for getting our business up and running again are already underway.   We are  working with our partners  in our buying group to ensure our customers will experience minimal disruption. We ask that you have some patience with us as we work through this process. Our immediate concerns are for the effects on our employees, customers and community. Christie’s has been a prominent member of Brandon’s business community for many years, and intends to be here well into the future.  We truly appreciate all the messages of encouragement and support that have been received. ..they are really uplifting at a time like this. The owners and occupants of the other buildings affected by the fire are in our thoughts as well – especially the families from Massey Manor.  It’s heartwarming to see community members step up to support these folks in their time of need, and we sincerely hope that they will continue to be supported as they seek to become re-established in homes. We especially want to thank  the emergency responders from Brandon and neighbouring communities who  assisted with fighting the fire.  You are all heroes in our books! You will  have further updates from us as we reorganize and prepare to be back in business. And thanks for continuing to be here for us!

Nothing comes from a box; everything is made from scratch using the freshest ingredients possible to create the homemade meals that’s Aida Tahhan is most proud of. Aida opened her business in Brandon, Aida’s Catering, almost three years ago. While catering is a big part of the business, the enthusiastic entrepreneur also offers customers take-home family meals and is a bed and breakfast host. Originally from Bethlehem, Aida uses her Mediterranean background to create healthy dishes using a lot of vegetables and little fat. As demand for fresh, homemade meals has increased, she recently decided to team up with a local restaurant where she will be able to serve or deliver her tasty dishes in individual or family serving sizes. The launch of this enhanced portion of her business will start at the beginning of June, also at which time the restaurant that she is teaming up with will be announced. Aida’s fresh and unique dishes will be included in the local restaurant’s menu selection. While Aida has always offered fresh (as well as frozen) meals it was difficult to efficiently gauge the quantities that might be needed. “People love fresh homemade meals, but with busy and hectic schedules they wouldn’t always get a chance to pre-order. Now, it will be much more convenient for my customers and it will be easier for us to meet and fluctuate to the demand,” said Aida. Homemade frozen meals that are intended to be cooked at home are still available for pick up. As well, Aida also caters to small and large events and can host gatherings at her Princess Avenue location for as many as 20 guests. “We host a variety of gatherings, everything from small business luncheons to baby showers and wedding rehearsal dinners. We also have cooking classes for a fun night out with friends or for couples,” said Aida. While the main floor of the business houses the commercial kitchen and space for entertaining, the second floor of Aida’s Catering is a bed and breakfast which has received five-star ratings through airbdb.ca.

Brandon, MB – Interlake Broadcast Group has announced that a new on-line radio station will launch in Brandon early next month. The overall focus of this radio station will be community based, with a music format driven by Light Rock-Adult Contemporary music hits of today as well as spanning the last 30 years.   CHANNEL 1 is a new and exciting concept for Brandon and the Westman area. “It’s a station that is missing right now in the Brandon market. We’re going to run hourly news, sports and weather throughout the workday, and we’ll always play the top Adult Contemporary songs and better adult hits,” said Interlake Broadcast President Ray Walker. The new station becomes the second on-line property in the company’s 13-year history. BIG FM was Interlake’s first venture.  That station, dedicated to sports broadcasts and modern rock music, was on-line for 10 years between 2005 and 2015, winning recognition in 2009 as “Canada’s Most Listened To Internet Radio Station”.  First launched in Selkirk, it was re-located to Souris in 2010.   In order for CHANNEL 1 to be a success, local business leaders have had a very positive response to date.  The station will only have room for 12 business partners, and it is hoped that they will all be secured before the launch in June.   Walker is no stranger to radio listeners in Brandon, he celebrates 30 years in broadcasting in September, a career that started right here in Brandon at CKX Radio.