Rhonda Pardy is the Owner-Operator at Tim Hortons Westman & Area. She is a former winner of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce’s Business Person of the Year award. Tim Hortons Westman & Area will open their 10th location on Tuesday, June 1 on the corner of Richmond and First street. The first Timmies location opened in Brandon (18th Street) in November of 2001. 1. What do you consider the ultimate comfort food: Spaghetti and the sauce has to be my Mom’s recipe 2. What is your favourite movie soundtrack of all time: Saturday Night Live. It’s impossible to stay sitting when those tunes start playing. 3. For your next vacation you can only visit a place that starts with the first letter of your first name. Where are you going: ROME!!  Yes PLEASE!4. Least favourite household chore: It would be a tie between shovelling snow and hauling out the garbage bins in the winter.  5. What's the tallest building you have ever been to the top of: Empire State Building. I LOVE New York City! 6. What songs take you back to your teen years: I was a teen in the 80’s so all the best music takes me back!  Bryan Adams, Journey, Whitney Houston, Foreigner, Michael Jackson.  The list is endless and I still listen to 80’s music a lot. 7. An object/item you still own from your childhood:  I have my childhood bible gifted to me by my grandparents. 8. First job: I became a cashier at Canadian Tire at 13 years old.  My ‘Mom and Dad’ bosses were the best role models and life teachers I could ever ask for but the pay was terrible. 9. Three most commonly used apps on your phone: Spotify, Facebook and the weather network10. What piece of advice would you give to young entrepreneurs: Work hard, take risks, save money, go the extra mile and make sure to have some fun!  11. Early riser or night owl: Very early riser 12. Heels, flats or sneakers: cannot wait for a reason to be in heels again but I’m usually wearing flats. 13. What are three words you would use to describe living in Brandon: Community Support, Safe, Home14. Dolphins or koalas: Dolphins - preferably watching from a sandy beach15. What does your work station/desk look like right now:  My home office desk has several piles of papers, an adding machine, a candle, a calendar with friends pictures on it, a protein shake and a pen.  Underneath that mess though is my Mom’s previous desk from Canadian Tire, refinished by my son so I have a full heart every time I sit down. 16. What food were you forced to eat as a child and still refuse to eat today: Pork and Beans.  Yuck!  I’m sure I had to sit at the table until dark trying to get them down.  For the record, my brother loved them and would ask if we could have them often.  I’m still planning my revenge on him.  17. What is the best activity when home on a rainy day: Ummm....I’ll take the fifth on that one.  Lol. (My Mom will probably read this!) 18.  If you could raid one celebrity's closet who would it be: One of the actress’s from the tv series Suits. 19. Favourite actor or actress: Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, 20. What's your favorite condiment: Ranch Dressing

Brandon Riverbank Inc. is now welcoming visitors outside the Discovery/Brandon & Region Tourism Centre forthe next few months! A visitor information booth has been installed outside the Discovery Centre/Brandon & Region Tourism Centre front doors (during office hours and when staffing allows). While the facility remains open, Brandon Riverbank Inc.wanted toensure the public can access cityand region information, while feeling safe outdoors. “During these challenging times, wefelt we wanted to better engage with the public and thought we could better utilize our summer staff with this new information booth outside,” said James Montgomery, GM of Brandon Riverbank Inc. “Our grounds have been very busy and it’s understandable if some people feel hesitant about going inside our facility. This joint initiative allows Riverbank and Brandon Tourism staff the ability to provide people with a safe option to access information about the grounds, the city and the region. ”Make sure you stop by and pick up your 2021 Brandon visitor guide today! A friendly reminder that the Riverbank grounds are a great way to spend time outdoors during this challenging time. Enjoy the walking trails, children’s playground, outdoor art installments and so much morewhile at the Riverbank! (submitted)

After many long months of the Building Re-Fit Store being closed for a much-needed store clean-up and beautification, the store is opening its doors to the community by appointment only starting June 3. “After almost 30 years of the store being open, we realized the store needed an upgrade. We closed the store during the winter months to revamp the store to make it more pleasurable for customers to shop in”, says Erin Coleman, Building Re-Fit Program Manager. The Building Re-Fit Store originally planned to open its doors on June 3 to the community. However, with the current COVID restrictions, the store will now be open by appointment only for the time being. “We know the store has been missed while we were closed, our staff haven been working hard to create a welcoming and creative shopping environment. We are excited to announce that the Building Re-Fit Store will be opening by appointment. To book your appointment call 204-728-2227.” Shopping by appointment is not the only thing that has changed in the Building Re-Fit Store. For more than 20 years, local artists have been show-casing their artwork on the Building Re-Fit Store legal graffiti wall. Inspired by the graffiti wall, over 15 artists, including graffiti artists and art students from Crocus Plains, were given an art space throughout the store to showcase their art. “Each wall, each mural is different. What this artwork adds to the store, we never could have imagined, the talent in Brandon and surrounding area is amazing!” The Building Re-Fit Store is an employment and work training project of the Community Health and Housing Association (CHHA). 100% of all donations and sales help us to assist families and individuals in need throughout our community. To book your shopping appointment or to donate your building materials or good used furniture, call the Building Re-Fit Store at 204-728-2227 today. (submitted)

nCino, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCNO), a pioneer in cloud banking and digital transformation solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced that Manitoba’s Sunrise Credit Union is live on the nCino Bank Operating System®. Sunrise will now be able to offer a user-friendly, digital on-line and in-branch Deposit Account Opening experience members today expect through the nCino platform. The nCino platform will be able to significantly reduce the time required to open new memberships and new accounts, allowing Sunrise employees the ability to spend an increased amount of personal time with their members to understand their financial needs and provide a first-class customer experience. In addition to utilizing nCino’s Deposit Account Opening solution, Sunrise has also purchased nCino’s Commercial Banking, Retail Banking and Residential Mortgage solutions which it plans to roll-out in phases to help further automate tasks to drive organizational efficiency, scalability and speed. “We conducted an extensive review of potential partners and selected nCino because they not only offered a solution that could provide our members the very best experience, but their corporate values align closely to those of Sunrise,” said Tim Klassen, President & CEO at Sunrise Credit Union. “The pandemic has required us to find new ways to meet our members’ needs including moving many business activities online. The introduction of nCino will enable us to provide more self-service and electronic communication options to our members, which was the most pressing issue for us to solve.” With approximately 34,000 members, Sunrise Credit Union’s goal is to provide personalized financial services to benefit its members and communities. Sunrise recognized the need to continue to innovate and improve in order to meet the changing needs of its members and nCino is a key component to achieving these goals. The nCino Bank Operating System digitizes, automates and streamlines complex processes and workflow through a single-digital platform that can be accessed anytime, anywhere and from any internet-enabled device. Through the nCino platform, Sunrise has been able to substantially reduce the time it takes to open deposit accounts and member onboarding time has been reduced by about half. “Digital transformation should be done with a focus on meeting the needs of each and every member while also enhancing operational efficiency,” said Cam Sterrett, nCino's General Manager, Canada. “Sunrise understood the need to enhance their processes to enable them to streamline their current offerings, freeing up employee time to focus on meeting the needs of their members. We’re thrilled to be able to continue carving our footprint throughout Canada and partner with institutions as innovative as Sunrise.” (submitted)

The last 15 months have been difficult for the service industry, especially beauty salons and barbershops. However, navigating the changing rules and regulations hasn’t narrowed the “Big Picture Focus” for the ladies at Artistry Salon in Brandon.  Owner Danielle McCoy has over 22 years of experience in the industry and decided to modernize and update the services her salon offers to Westman residents. Artistry Salon now offers traditional barbering, spray tanning, henna brows, brow lamination, lash lifts, tints, and dermaplaning.  “While we already offered hair, nails, and lash extensions, we felt these additions rounded everything out nicely,” said McCoy. “As stylists and nail technicians grow and evolve, new things start to trend, and we get excited to take courses, learn new things, then turn around and offer it to our clientele.”  The salon, located at 1865 Brandon Avenue, across from the Keystone Centre wasn’t quite large enough to accommodate McCoy’s vision, but the location was ideal, and relocation wasn’t an option.  “We needed to expand as we and our services grew. Luckily, as we love our current location, we were able to achieve that while remaining here,” added McCoy. “We built a whole new room off the back of the building, and changed the look of the salon with a fresh paint job and new lights!” Although there is a mystery surrounding the immediate future and how the pandemic will shape small businesses’ day-to-day operations, the staff at Artistry Salon are eagerly waiting to re-open and share their new vision with the people of Brandon.