I’ve been wanting to revive this feature for some time, and I think I’ve finally found the trick to it. In short, I’ll only post about businesses and societies that either interest me personally or that I think might have some wider interest. So this is not an exhaustive list, but only some of the new society and businesses that have registered in Nova Scotia over the past week.
Antigonish Skatepark Association
Co-chairs: Jason Mason and Luke Campbell
Its website explains that the association is “a group of dedicated citizens working to build a world class skatepark in Antigonish at 42 West St..”
I dunno, maybe they should shoot for Antigonish-class?
Gillie’s Fish & Chips
Partner: Murdock Morrison
Baddeck
David A. Steele Consulting
Partner: David Steele
“Provide services and support to businesses, primarily focussed with the utilization of various Government funding or programs. ”
Dartmouth
Atlantic Schooners Football Club
Schooners Sports and Entertainment
Both names are registered by Maritime Football Limited
East Coast Varsity School
East Coast Varsity Stadium
Both names are registered by a numbered company whose president is Brandon Moore of Sackville. Moore is also a vice-president at SportsDirect. I’ve emailed him to ask if “East Coast Varsity Stadium” is related to the proposed CFL stadium at Shannon Park, but haven’t heard back from him.
Mike Arnold Voiceovers
Partner: Michael Arnold
Bridgewater
Arnold describes himself as “Warm, Conversational, Guy next door, Friendly.”
Captain Paulie’s Sports Bar & Grill
Partners: Jason Boudreau and Marcella Timmons
634 Reeves Street, Port Hawkesbury, which is that little strip mall with the Sobeys and Shoppers.
Rachel’s Cuisine
Partner: Rachel Basa Aspacio
Catalone
Food truck
KSR Juga Brewery
Partner: Danielle Latour
I can’t find any information about Latour, although she lives in Halifax.
Aroma Maya Coffee, Inc.
Directors: Sergio Garrido and Kristi Garrido
North River
Sergio Garrido’s story is explained on Aroma Maya’s website:
Born and raised in Guatemala, Sergio arrived in Nova Scotia to attend university, returning home every year to visit his family. Each time he came back, he brought enough Guatemalan coffee to get him through to his next visit. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he wanted to share his passion for high quality coffees with Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada.
Out of this passion, Aroma Maya was created. In 2014, Sergio began sourcing the highest quality coffees Guatemala has to offer. Initially, these were custom-roasted in the Annapolis Valley, in small batches, creating an amazing coffee experience for customers. What started as an online shop operating from a university dorm room has grown into the Aroma Maya Coffee Roastery, a production facility in North River, Nova Scotia. Aroma Maya now supplies many cafes, restaurants and other stores reaching hundreds of households across the province and the rest of Canada.
Station 1 Lebanese Kitchen
Agent: Ousama Ahmad Alkhatib
50 Tacoma Drive, Dartmouth
Start Pickleball
Partner: Mike Seifert
Halifax
Mike Seifert and Lanaya Houlden are the people behind Start Pickleball.
Infinity Soul Designs
Partner: Margaret Hogan
Halifax
“Aromatherapy, Jewelry, Furever Love Products, Energy Healing, Personal Health and Pet Products,” she says.
I have no idea what Furever Love is, and I’m afraid to ask because I fear it’s some Furry perversion; but you could ask Hogan via her Facebook page.
Furry Tales Animal Grooming
Partner: Gao Qianli
57 Sanctuary Court, Fall River
Enough with the fur already…
Village Dog Walking
Partner: Arielle Lewis
Coxheath
“Village Dog Walking will be a service offering private and group dog walks as well as visits and pee breaks.”
I’m sensing a theme here.
Planet Paws Media
Partner: Rodney Habib
Dartmouth
“Content creator.”
On his website, Habib explains that he “is a digital artist, social media influencer, filmmaker, multiple award-winning vlogger, professional speaker, founder of the world’s largest pet health page on Facebook called Planet Paws, and, more importantly, a pet parent.”
M’kay.
Coastal Cook House
Partners: Kale Boucher and Jeffrey Lukas
4 Government Wharf Road, Unit #16
Eastern Passage
Halifax Senior Living Media
Partner: Roy Thomas
7071 Bayers Road, Halifax
Thomas is a realtor who has discovered the internet. I’m not sure what the “media” part of that equation is.
Reeve’s Creative Copy
Partner: Candace Reeves
Mahone Bay
“Copywriting services for small to medium sized enterprises.”
This is the single most needed business service on the planet.
Writing360
Partner: Dawn Henwood
Halifax
Henwood is the “manager of experiential learning” at the Mount.
Sandman Anesthesia, Inc.
President: Tristan Dumbarton
Halifax
Cute name until you think about it.
Lunenburg Bike Shop
Rhumb Line Bike Shop
Agent: Alex Moore
Lunenburg
The bike shop is owned by Alex Moore, and Oliver Cote is the “Bike Shop Advisor.”
Gottingen Street Pizza, Inc.
President: Mohammad Alhaj
Apparently, Gottingen Street is about to get another pizza place; I have no more information on this.
L’Nu Ay Gifts and Tee Pee Rentals and Sales
Partner: Daniel Joseph Paul
Membertou
Tim’s Bin Management
Partner: Tim Hart
Fall River
“Manage independent drivers who collect clothing donations for IWK across NS and NB.”
This interests me. Of course people involved in charitable enterprises should be paid (and paid well), but this seems to be outsourcing the work… I can’t understand it.
The Ville Caffeine Bar
Partner: Jenna L Oosterholt
5146 Sackville Street, Halifax
This is on the Sackville Street side of The Maple; hope they have more success than the Smiling Goat.
Oosterholt describes herself as an “entrepreneur.”
Heartsong Travel
Partners: Sandra Phinney (Yarmouth) and Melanie Chambers (Toronto)
“Website for travel stories/ photos within Canada.”
They’ve got a website, but nothing on it yet.
Rocky’s Noodles
Partner: Min Dong Chen
1532 Granville Street, Halifax
This is the former Sushi Shige space.
Your Last Resort Organizing and Staging Solutions
Partners: Laura Churchill Duke, Raina Noel, Jennifer Williams Saklofske
Kentville
“Help clients to declutter their homes and restage them so they can find peace and organization at home.”
Restage?
Botnek Entertainment
Partners: Gordon Huntley and Erick Muise
Dartmouth
Their Facebook page explains:
Gordon Huntley & Erick Muise joined forces as Botnek back in 2008 in Halifax, Nova Scotia through a shared love for house music. With a shortage of inspiration in the form of nightclubs and generally an unlikely scene for the quiet seaside Canadian town, Gordon & Erick bonded over Ableton tips, dance music blogs and late night radio shows on BBC Radio 1. Soon after forming a strong friendship through similar musical interests, the project was formed, which led to a string of releases with a number of up & coming fidget & electro house labels. The guys landed a couple of key remix opportunities from this early buzz around the project from names including Crookers, AC Slater, Felix Cartal & Jack Beats. In this first chapter of their careers, the duo toured first in Europe and Asia, in clubs such as Fabric, Sub Club, and Bootshaus.
It wasn’t much longer until Dim Mak Records & Steve Aoki were interested in signing the project to the label. From the signing to Dim Mak came a number of singles & EPs, tours in America, and their viral edit of Martin Garrix’s hit “Animals”. The duo gained far more attention from this than ever expected, and started the next chapter in their career. Shifting styles into more main stage ready Electro House and Big Room, the duo began touring internationally. More singles for Dim Mak followed, along with another viral remix. This time for The Chainsmokers’ “#SELFIE”, which really put Botnek on the map. Collaborations with Zedd, 3lau, Loudpvck & Snails soon followed as well as an even heavier touring schedule. Since then, Botnek have toured the globe in almost every continent, have played on some of the biggest festival stages in the world including Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival & more, and have done a Las Vegas residency with Steve Aoki.
Almost a decade later, in the summer of 2017, the Botnek boys reached a major turning point. The once dance music class clowns felt an urge to evolve their sound; to shift the project away from the festival Big Room sound, and back to the roots of the project. After years of touring, both Gordon & Erick realized they had almost subconsciously stopped creating the kind of music that had originally fueled the formation of Botnek in the first place, all those years ago in Halifax. It was time for the next chapter in their careers and they decided to take a leap. They released a song called “Don’t Need U” on their own independent label imprint World Famous Headquarters. The track had the quirky house sound they bonded over when they first met and shared such a deep love for. From there, the duo has released a number of tracks in this musical vein, each one a deeper dive back into the diverse & ever-expanding world of house music.
In 2018, Botnek decided to take things a step further with this World Famous Headquarters imprint by launching a monthly radioshow. They launched World Famous Radio in partnership with SiriusXM’s Insomniac Radio, as a sort of homage to the radio shows they first loved on BBC Radio 1. After fully realizing the amount of talent existing amongst their peers and the next generation of young producers, the guys opened up the doors of the World Famous Headquarters label to outside artists for the first time in the fall of 2018. The label’s sound will consist of Botnek’s filter of wacky house music inspired by those early fidget & electro house days Gordon & Erick are still so inspired by today.
Kore Speciality Coffee
Partner: Ibrar Ul Haq
Bedford
“Mobile cafe, to serve coffee, tea, smoothies, & baked goods/ food.”
District 5 Bar & Grill
Partner: Jack Toulany
65 King Street, Dartmouth
This is the space that used to host the Community Services office. I think “District 5” refers to the council district, which is pretty funny.
Momentum Strength Systems
Partner: Jenna Downie
Dartmouth
“Offering strength programming services to individuals as well as form checks, advice, and competition services. ”
Downie is a powerlifter.
Corporal Punishment Veteran Apparel Incorporated
President: Dwayne McCabe
Westville
Yeah, I don’t know either.
Mexican Takoloko Restaurant
Agent: Virginia Ruiz Torres
Halifax
I don’t have an address for the business locale yet, but Takoloko is a fantastic name for a Mexican restaurant; this California boy has been jonesing for good Mexican food since I moved here.
North Preston Historical Society and Museum
Directors: Glenn Cain, Merlin Cain, Neville Provo, Brian Provo, Brian T. Provo
North Preston
Thanks for bringing this back.
1) Sandra Phinney is an excellent writer and paddler who leads wilderness tours in SW Nova Scotia. I’m curious to see what she is up to.
2) Last time I was in Port Hawkesbury I told a friend from there that the mall had seen better days, and he said, “You’d think so, but not necessarily.”
Sandra explains more here: http://sandraphinney.com/uncategorized/heartsong/
Ah the highrest aspiration of a millennial – social influencer.
To paraphrase Quint from Jaws – “In my day everyone wanted to be a harpooner or sword fisherman.”