Growing business.
Developer Dan Anderson’s Greely Village Centre is helping to expand the business base in Greely. Osgoode Coun. Doug Thompson is spearheading a Greely business association to help attract more businesses and lobby the city for resources in the area.
Emma Jackson
Osgoode Coun. Doug Thompson is spearheading the creation of a Greely business association in an effort to make the Ottawa South village more attractive to businesses in the future.
Thompson hosted a meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at the Our Lady of the Visitation banquet hall on Bank Street to kick start an interim association, gauge interest levels, and elect an interim executive.
He said he hopes to have a fully-fledged business association set up by January, when he would likely step out of his current organizational role to let the businesses take over.
He said a business association is important as the village grows residentially and starts to build more amenities close by.
“The village is growing very quickly. There is a huge, strong growth in residential development and we do have a core of very successful businesses throughout Greely and the outer edges,” Thompson said. “With the expansion of the village residential market and the growth of businesses, I thought it was important to have a strong business presence.”
A large commercial plaza is already in the works south of Parkway Road on the eastern side of Bank Street, where local developer Dan Anderson is building the Greely Village Centre. It will include a satellite office of the Metcalfe Family Dental Centre, Cooper Physiotherapy, and a number of retail tenants.
Even so, the village currently lacks its own bank, restaurant and hardware store – meaning residents must drive elsewhere to find what they need.
Watch www.yourottawaregion.com and Ottawa This Week for updates.