AD{65384859} Barrie's Business Is Our Business! Find a breakdown of Barrie festivals inside: Pages 8-9. June 2012 www.barriebiz.com Summer Summer Summer Summer Fun Fun Fun Fun Under a bright blue sky, 10-year-old Brian Travis has fun blowing bubbles while attending Promenade Days in downtown Barrie. AD{65384964} MARK WANZEL PHOTO 2 BUILDING SUCCESS The forecast is a sunny one for Barrie's building industry. 4 COLON CLEANSE Hydrotherapy machine can help rid the body of toxins. 10 KITCHEN MAGIC Total Living Concepts wins three trophies for its design prowess. ...

PAGE 2 JUNE 2012 BARRIE BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION: Changes to the Ontario Building Code this year have meant increased costs, but better quality homes Building on a summery outlook 'Traffic is up, interest rates are low, great advances in housing' SUSAN DOOLAN Special to Barrie Business The forecast is a sunny one for Barrie's building industry. "Builders are very optimistic," said Sheila Hissa, executive officer of The Canadian Home Builders' Association - Simcoe County. "Traffic is up, interest rates are low, great advances in housing," she added. "Houses being built today - energy efficient, building materials, building code changes, advances in products - far surpass buildings put up even 10 years ago." The change to better quality, more energy-efficient housing recently is much greater than the 40-year time period prior to 2002. Nevertheless, the revisions to the Ontario building code this year has meant increased costs for local builders. "It's been a very steep learning curve over t ...

BARRIE BUSINESS AD{65385099} Winner of 2012 LOCAL, CANADIAN &AMERICAN DESIGN AWARDS JUNE 2012 CONSTRUCTION: As land is in limited supply, builders are making every available use of it by building up Pratt Homes' numbers have tripled Homebuilder has four new projects in Barrie FROM PAGE 2 As far as sales go, Pratt's numbers have tripled from last spring to this spring which has resulted in increased staff, more contracts, sub-contracts this year that than the previous two. Currently, Pratt has four new buildings projects on the go in Barrie - north, south, east and west end - detached homes, townhomes and condominiums. Heljar Hansen, president of The Canadian Home Builders' Association - Simcoe County, attributes good spring sales to people taking advantage of historically low interest rates. And he expects that will continue into the summer. Government programs are also helping buyers with their purchase of a new home. "There's always a government program in place," he said, to help wi ...

PAGE 4 JUNE 2012 BARRIE BUSINESS HEALTH: Nutritional practitioner in Barrie offers clients a spa-like atmosphere where they can relax and accept treatment Colon care just a cleanse away Hydrotherapy machine can help rid the body of toxins NICKI CRUICKSHANK Barrie Business Your colon puts up with a lot of every day. And Janette Boyter wants to help wash that all away. Clearing out nasty toxins and residue might not sound therapeutic and relaxing. But, with Boyter's colon hydrotherapy machine, flushing away inner waste has never been more satisfying. "You're basically working the colon to flush out any toxins and any fecal matter," said Boyter, a nutritional practitioner and owner of Halcyon Colon Hydrotherapy and Detoxification Services in Barrie. "It's a real workout for your colon, exercising the muscle and getting it cleaned out. "The biggest thing I saw as a nutritional practitioner was digestive issues and people with constipation problems. People don't understand about detoxing," ...

BARRIE BUSINESS JUNE 2012 CITY: The city's business profile is diverse, dynamic and relatively balanced What Barrie's business community is made of When we think of the Barrie business community and the types of businesses that operate here, we most often think of businesses we see and patron as part of our daily living. As many of the establishments are likely to be consumer and retail orientated, it is easy to assume that this sector dominates our business composition. Barrie's business profile is actually incredibly diverse, dynamic and relatively balanced. Diversity means that our community is not industry dependent and is therefore better able to sustain employment and business opportunities during economic shifts in our varying business sectors, providing greater community stability. Similar to the province, the vast majority of Barrie's businesses are considered small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's), which is traditionally defined as businesses with fewer than 500 employees ...

PAGE 6 JUNE 2012 BARRIE BUSINESS DINING: Weather models point to a warmer-than-normal summer with less-than-normal precipitation Time to take all the fun outdoors Balmy temperatures a boon for Barrie's thriving patio business BRUCE CAMERON Special to Barrie Business A sturdy truth of journalism is that, when it comes to researching and interviewing, some stories have a higher fun quotient than others. So when this publication's editor said he was "looking at a Barrie establishment patio story, ya know, in terms of the warmer weather, competition, that sort of thing," I was glad to take up the task. His adding of the words "it could be a fun story" was equivalent to saying "oh, and another thing, the sun rises in the east." But why quibble about unnecessary observations when you've been given a plum assignment? If talking about the patio business, it's a good idea to start with what has to be a prime driver: the weather. If you recall, last summer was, around these parts, almost perfect ...

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PAGE 8 JUNE 2012 BARRIE BUSINESS EVENTS: Myriad of activities planned, with unique celebrations almost every weekend Summer festivals abound in Barrie Season full of entertainment SUSAN DOOLAN Special to Barrie Business From food to music and art to the environment, there's a festival to celebrate it all this summer. The beginning of June marks Celebrate Barrie and this year there's a special component to honour of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. "That's new this year," said Arin Donnelly, community events programmer with the City of Barrie. "It's an expanded heritage village with re-enactments, on-water demonstrations and live entertainment, and a Freedom of the City. "It's a really important part of our heritage in this city." Celebrate Barrie and Rhythmfest are the city's two major summer events. It is also involved in number of others festivals to a greater or lesser degree over the next few months. Lawnchair Luminata is one example. The partnership with the Downtown Barr ...

BARRIE BUSINESS AD{65384853} JUNE 2012 EVENTS: Adding extra GO trains during the Kempenfest weekend will bring even more people to the city Many of the celebrations overlap Aim is to 'create a package' FROM PAGE 8 The Ribfest runs in conjunction with a Craft Beer Show from July 5-8 in downtown Barrie and the Barrie New Music Fest follows July 19-22 at various venues around town. Kempenfest, held each year on the Civic Holiday weekend, is by far the biggest festival of the summer, attracts the greatest number of visitors and has the largest economic impact for the city. "I think it's got such a history in the community," Donnelly said. "It's the long weekend, a lot of people tend to come back to Barrie for the weekend. (It's) homecoming weekend (with) great vendors, variety of vendors, food and activities." Linda Wilson, managing director of Tourism Barrie, says Kempenfest draws more than 200,000 people annually with the average person spending $128, more if they stay overnight. "It's a ...

PAGE 10 JUNE 2012 BARRIE BUSINESS RECOGNITION: Awards bring grand total to nearly 30 for Glen Prairie and his team since the business began in 1993 Total Living Concepts wins another Barrie company has designs on hauling home the hardware BRUCE CAMERON Special to Barrie Business They sit there proudly, just a few steps into the showroom of Total Living Concepts on Penetanguishene Road in Barrie. The company has earned three trophies for its design prowess. The most recent one, awarded a few weeks ago by the Canadian Home Builders' Association Simcoe County, is for Creative Excellence in Kitchen Renovations. That makes for a total of nearly 30 awards for Glen Prairie and his team at Total Living Concepts since the business began in 1993. Prairie is justifiably proud of all the awards, making particular mention of the competition orchestrated in the U.S. through the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association. "That competition is huge," he said, noting that his company was up against 500 ...