Tag: collingwood entrepreneur

King for a Day

by Collingwood InfoCollingwood Events

Any Collingwood resident knows that the Elvis Festival is one of our most monumentous events. Anyone patiently waiting for that weekend in July will be excited to learn that you can get a little taste of the festival this weekend. But, it isn’t all fun and games.

A new documentary on the Collingwood Elvis Festival, called “King for a Day” is going to be screened on April 1st and 2nd at the Simcoe Street Theatre. While the documentary will talk about all the hype surrounding our festival, this documentary will also get into some of the things that the general public doesn’t know.

After having their media credentials revoked at the 2015 Collingwood Elvis Festival, a small Collingwood-area film and production company called Mountain Goat Film decided to expose some of the problems behind the festival. They did the film based on the premise that a large American corporation – Elvis Presley Enterprises – are the ones in control of our locally-produced and publicly-funded arts and culture festival.

elvis collingwood

The documentary will talk to local people, including town staff, politicians and those involved with the event. It will expose some of the perceived conflicts of interest and other issues surrounding the iconic and well-known Collingwood festival. The film will definitely get into some deep and controversial topics and will ultimately draw some conflicting opinions. The aim of the documentary is to show all sides of the Elvis Festival, including the still-immense popularity of Elvis Presley.

The filmmakers have other films, music videos and sport videos on their resume, including their current production, “Snow People”, which is filmed and about Blue Mountain. It details the last 75 years and 75 stories of people who were or are involved with the mountain in some way, including Olympic athletes, people who helped build the mountain and just people who love the moment. You can get this video on Vimeo on Demand for rent or purchase.

You can get your tickets from Theatre Collingwood for $10 at the box office or online. Show times are 2pm and 7pm. After the show, there will be a Q&A with filmmakers Tracey Johnston and Tom Strnad.

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Another Successful Entrepreneur from Collingwood: Chickapea Pasta

by Collingwood InfoCollingwood business

Being the entrepreneurial town that Collingwood is, a number of amazing businesses and products come out of here. Last summer, we told you about the success of the creators of Georgian Bay Gin Smash. Well, now there is another very successful product line in town, and this one is definitely for Collingwood residents who like to eat healthy.

Chickapea Pasta was started by Collingwood’s Shelby Taylor, who made a successful transition from health food store owner to full-fledged owner of her product line. Feeling a need for more nutritious options for kids that were also quick and easy, a pregnant Taylor got to work on her product – a gluten-free pasta made from chickpeas and lentils.

As the winner of the exC!te Experience in Barrie, where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas, Taylor started off with a line of dried, organic baby food. From there, she got the attention of the Georgian Angel Network, where investors were keen to award her grant money to get her products out to the market. She received a reward of more than $30,000 from the Ontario Centre for Excellence Smart Start Seed Fund, which allowed her to get her product on the shelves.

The product is now sold in more than 500 Canadian stores and just recently launched in the U.S. market. Canadian Restaurant News named it as one of their products of the week and Taylor has been featured on many news shows in the country to promote her fantastic product.

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Since becoming an entrepreneurial success in Collingwood, Taylor also likes giving back and recently donated more than 3,000 boxes of her Chickapea Pasta to The Stop Community Food Centre in Toronto. She felt that everyone should be able to eat healthy foods, no matter their situation.

So what is Chickapea Pasta?

With three shapes of pasta available, Chickapea Pasta is made from organic chickpeas and red lentils – and that’s it. The ingredients are sourced locally in Ontario, although the manufacturing is done in the U.S., for the time being. The super nutritious pasta has 23 grams of protein, 11 grams of fibre and is high in iron and b vitamins. Taylor says that her pasta tastes even better than regular pasta, with a smooth texture and it may even be hard to overcook it, which is also unlike traditional pasta.

Check out the very healthy and delicious recipes on her site for ideas on how to cook Chickapea Pasta.

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