Kings Our Business - as of Jan. 5

BY JENNIFER HOEGG

Kings County Advertiser

Local love for small business

One Kentville business owner has warm words for the town.

Sonny Demeter, co-owner of Nova Discovery with Chris-Ada MacTavish, says Mayor David Corkum and community development coordinator Tiffaney Connell dropped by in December with flowers to welcome the small business to town. “It’s a gesture I feel that should be recognized and shared with anyone looking to open a small business. It really is the little things that sets a tone,” the Aberdeen Street shop owner says, “to be someplace where you are not just a statistical side note but made to feel an addition to the community.”

The brainteasers, games and gift store closes for the winter while the owners scour trade shows for fun new products. Nova Discovery reopens March 1.

December chill good news for local wineries

John and Anne Warner harvested grapes for ice wine December 16, thanks to a chilly night.

From their North Mountain vineyards near Kentville, the Warners produce juice for icewine, selling to Blomidon Estate Winery, Jost Vineyards, Gaspereau Vineyards and Domaine de Grand Pré. “With a mild November and December, there is always the worry the harvest may not happen until well into January, by which time many of the grapes would have fallen to the ground, reducing the icewine harvest,” John Warner says. “Most harvests take place over three or four nights but, this year, we managed to get everything harvested between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.”

Icewine grapes need to be harvested at -8C or colder to concentrate the sugars and flavours in the juice, leaving behind the frozen ice crystals. Even the pressing happens in a cold, uninsulated building in the middle of the vineyard.

Interested in going into business?

The Acadia Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurship is offering a workshop on launching your own small business.

The series begins in late January and covers a number of topics: determining if self-employment is the right path for you, components of a winning business plan, where and how to find financing and making sense of government requirements for small business.

For details, visit www.acsbe.com or call 543-1067

Send Kings County business news to jhoegg@kentvilleadvertiser.ca or tweet @jennhoegg