NOMINATIONS OPEN!

CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE AN INDIVIDUAL. Completed nomination forms are NOW DUE BY NOVEMBER 22nd, 2013 

Any questions can be forwarded to the SHIFT office at 807-624-2628

SHIFT Thunder Bay’s Young Professionals Network “put on the ritz” at their 5th Annual Wine Tasting Mixer, presented by Grant Thornton, on Thursday, November 28^th in the Ballroom at the Valhalla Inn. This was an event themed with the 1920’s and guests arrived in style with the women wearing flashy flapper attire while the men wore tuxedo’s with bowties and top hats, and even special slang and props were in tow with these “Janes” and “Joes”.

The beginning of the night consisted of attendees sampling three Tremonte selections sponsored by Whitewater Golf Club and four tasteful wines sponsored by Valhalla Inn. After the wines were tasted attendees were asked to fill out a wine survey and enter it for a chance to win a $200 Granite Town Cars gift certificate. While enjoying their samples guests voted for the Best Dressed male and female contest to win $100 gift certificates from Mars Clothing and Unveiled Bridal Boutique, as well participated in a silent auction of unique  items donated by Antiques on Victoria, Black Cat Antiques, Unveiled Bridal Boutique, Sleeping Giant Antiques, Ivy League Interiors, Silhouette Boutique and SHIFT. To capture the excitement of the event there was a photo booth and professional photographs taken by Studio1 Photography during the vibrant evening festivities. Before dinner, Shelby Ch’ng, SHIFT’s Social Programs Director, gave witty SHIFT remarks and introduced Janie Chadwick, a local musician, who set the ambiance with her beautiful vocals and acoustic guitar playing while guests enjoyed an exceptional 3 course sit-down dinner at tables decorated with centerpieces donated by Bloomers & the Brownhouse.

 SHIFT’s 5^th Annual Wine Tasting Mixer was definitely a night to remember by all and without the support from our many contributors of this event, it would not have been the success it turned out to be. SHIFT would like to thank and acknowledge the Presenting Sponsor – Grant Thornton, the Supporting Sponsors – Valhalla Inn, Magic 99.9, Jones & Associates, Whitewater Golf Club and Firedog Communications and Lakehead Printing, the Prize Sponsors – Granite Town Cars, Unveiled Bridal Boutique, and Mars Clothing, as well as Studio1 for the photography and Janie Chadwick for the live entertainment. SHIFT appreciates all the attendees who were so enthusiastic to embrace the theme of the night and the volunteers and Board Directors who worked tirelessly to make the evening come to life. We look forward to the next SHIFT Wine Tasting Mixer, ladies and gentlemen, until next year.

Look for more info and photos on Facebook or on Twitter - #SHIFTWineTasting

SHIFT Thunder Bay’s Young Professionals Network was pleased to host SHIFT’s ‘Mentorship Speaker Series Breakfast featuring Walter Flasza’ proudly presented by SunLife Financial, at Gargoyles Restaurant on Monday October 21^st, 2013.

There was early morning networking while enjoying a hot buffet breakfast at a long a table in “A Little to the Left”. After the delicious meal, attendees listened to a presentation from Walter J. Flasza, a partner with BDO Canada LLP. It was an invaluable experience for SHIFT to have had speaker; Walter Flasza, who has practiced in public accounting for almost thirty years as an advisor to local businesses and community based organizations, and who is currently the Chair of the 2013 United Way of Thunder Bay Campaign. During Walter’s presentation he addressed a combination of tips for entrepreneurs to start their businesses off strong and to stay strong, and suggests “soon-to-be” business owners seek out key character traits when looking for the right advisor. Guests were eager to listen to Walter share his personal stories about who and what helped him advance in his career and with such a colourful background of experience with small businesses it is understandably so. Attendees at this event had the chance to win a book suggested by Walter Flasza; and the lucky winner of ‘The 8^th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness – by Stephen R. Covey’ was Thomas Lupinski with Wideawake Studios. SHIFT appreciates the opportunity to have Walter Flasza as speaker for this event and would like to thank all who joined us for this early breakfast and presentation.

This was the last event of the SHIFT Mentorship Speaker Series for 2013 which is the end of the 2^nd year of this series. The objective of these events are to provide opportunities for young minded individuals to develop personally and professionally; within the framework of already established businesses or careers and/or to assist in helping future endeavours become reality. These events are a great way to hear from a local professional who has “been there, done that”, and is willing to offer encouragement and share their experiences with a relevant audience. Although this series of events has come to an end for 2013, SHIFT has been working diligently on the 2014 series which will launch in January 2014, so stay tuned for the dates!

SHIFT is proud to have started off Small Business Week, with this event, and to be a part of a week filled with opportunities to indulge in events geared toward teaching and learning about, as well as celebrating entrepreneurs and small businesses in Thunder Bay.

It was a beautiful day in the Fort William neighbourhood on Thursday, September 12th, 2013 for the SHIFT “Annual Business Crawl” proudly supported by Unveiled Bridal Boutique, SHOUT Media, the Thunder Bay Museum and Daytona’s Restaurant.

SHIFTers met at City Hall where Mayor Keith Hobbs opened the event with greetings, speaking highly of the role SHIFT is playing in the local community. Before leaving City Hall, SHIFT business crawlers took a homemade pretzel to-go from The Sweet North Bakery kindly delivered by the owner, Erinn DeLorenzi, who had on tow Jamie McDonald, an “adventurer” stopping in Thunder Bay during his run across Canada, who thought it may be nice to check out a SHIFT event before heading to his own event next door at the Thunder Bay Public Library.

From City Hall attendees broke into two groups alternating between travelling by foot and by SHIFT bus to local businesses in the Fort William Business District. Amongst these destinations were Unveiled Bridal Boutique, Paro Centre, Steepers Tea, Kabab Village, SHOUT Media, Bloomers and the Brownhouse Chocolates and the Thunder Bay Museum; the last stop at the end of the crawl where attendees enjoyed appetizers provided by Daytona’s Restaurant. Each location provided their own touch to the crawl by showcasing their wares offered and sharing how they came about and their hopes and dreams for their business, as well as offering free samples and exclusive offers for SHIFTers, including locally made desserts from Steepers Tea and Kabab Village and a Pay a Parking Ticket promotion from SHOUT Media.

The annual SHIFT Business Crawl was a great way to experience businesses in the Fort William Business District like never before. SHIFT would like thank all who attended the event, and a special thank you to Unveiled Bridal Boutique, SHOUT Media, the Thunder Bay Museum and Daytona’s Restaurant for sponsoring this event. Another great event by SHIFT’s Event Committee who is already started the planning for next year’s SHIFT Business Crawl.

SHIFT Brought out Stunning Weather for their 3^rd Annual Golf Tournament

The weather looked grim the night before the Golf Tournament but fortunately the sun came out to greet all who attended and stuck around for the day, making this event a very enthusiastic one at that.

Proudly presented by RBC and tbaytel, SHIFT’s 3rd Annual Golf Tournament was held on Friday July 19th, 2013 at the gorgeous Whitewater Golf Club where a variety of young professionals got together to play in a 9-hole golf tournament showcasing their networking and golfing skills simultaneously.

Whitewater Golf Club sponsored a fabulous lunch before participants were led onto the green to play their 9 holes of golf, stopping at the half-way hut where this year’s media sponsor, Magic 99.9/The Giant 105.3FM, had their BoomBox playing with a contest for a chance to win 2 tickets to Jeff Dunham’s sold-out comedy show at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium and a $50 gift certificate to The Keg.

During the tournament, Modo executed their Creative Shot Contest encouraging golfers to take photos with their smart phone to send them in to the Modo crew for a chance to win a $200 Gift Certificate to the Neebing Roadhouse and Steakhouse.

Maria Maria Photography

Maria Maria Photography

Maria Maria Photography was on top of capturing the extraordinary feeling on the course where there were many contests golfers took part in along both sides of the course including hole-in-one contests sponsored by Thunder Bay Harley-Davidson and Half-way Motors Nissan Ltd, and specialty hole contests sponsored by Mike McGinnis, Consultant with Investors Group, Investors Group East and Tan on the Run, as well as a putting contest by tbaytel.

After the golfing fun, attendees enjoyed a patio party with entertainment provided by Labatt before gathering for a delicious dinner in the Whitewater Banquet Room with a steady buzz of networking in the air while awards and prizes galore were presented to deserving teams and individuals, an added incentive for this exciting tournament. A great time was had by all, creating a challenge for SHIFT’s Golf Committee to top this phenomenal golf tournament next year!

              Tuesday August 6^th, 2013

It is with sadness that even after postponement of this event to a later date with hopes of finer weather, we were graced with a day of solid rain that even the Border Cats were not impressed by.

Unfortunately the game was cancelled and so was “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”

BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR!

SHIFT Thunder Bay’s Young Professionals Network held their 2^nd Annual Drive Away Hunger Volunteer Food Drive, presented by BDO and supported by 5 Forks Restaurant on Tuesday, June 11^th, 2013 between 6pm-8pm. SHIFTers; including a few of SHIFT’s youngest attendees yet, were glad to volunteer their time canvassing a Thunder Bay neighbourhood asking residents for contributions of non-perishable food items to donate to the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA). A grand total of 617.1 lbs of food was collected. All volunteers and participants were welcome to an After Party at 5 Forks Restaurant where they enjoyed a variety of scrumptious appetizers and socialized in the Forks South multifunction private room.

SHIFT would like to thank BDO for making this event a success, 5 Forks Restaurant for providing the fantastic after party, the RFDA for the opportunity to help, SHIFT’s Professional & Personal Development Committee for the planning and execution of this event and the volunteers who took part in helping to make a difference in the community. See you again next year to help us Drive Away Hunger!

     Quite the variety of like-minded professionals in the room at SHIFT’s AGM & Speed Networking Event, presented by Investors Group on Thursday May 9^th, 2013 in the Tiberio Room at the Airlane Hotel & Conference Centre. This event will be fondly remembered as there were 8 candidates nominated to fill 6 positions within the SHIFT Board of Directors and the room was filled with supporters cheering them on, and the speed networking was the topping on the cake.

The networking buzz was in the air before Michael Nitz (RBC Branch Manager), past President of SHIFT, led guests into the AGM portion of the evening, where he introduced the 8 nomi

nees; Brett Sharman, Dayna Bobrowski-Vogt, Jake Satten, Samantha Mihalus, Sanjay Uppal, Scott Schooler, Seija Makelainen and Shelby Ch’ng, running for a position on SHIFT’s Board of Directors. Each candidate spoke briefly regarding their ability to help continue to move SHIFT forward and after the speeches, guests had the difficult task of voting for only 6 of the 8 candidates. After a smooth collection of votes, and some networking while enjoying a cocktail and lovely hors d’oeurvres prepared by the Airlane Hotel & Conference Centre, the count was performed and the new Board Directors were decided. Brett Sharman (Confederation College), Dayna Bobrowski-Vogt (Lakehead University), Jake Satten (Modo), Samantha Mihalus (Jones & Associates), Scott Schooler (Northshore Financial Services) and Shelby Ch’ng (Unveiled Bridal) are the new additions to the SHIFT Board of Directors.

SHIFT President, Nathan Lawrence states, “SHIFT’s 5^th Annual AGM was an incredible success.  I am very excited with our roster of New Board Directors joining the SHIFT Team following the best attended AGM SHIFT has had to date. We have a team made up of very engaged and community oriented professionals from a wide range of career fields within our community. I am confident that working together, our Board will have the energy and drive to take our organization to the next level over the years ahead. I am very much looking forward to getting the 2013/14 Board of Directors working on projects and initiatives that matter to the Young Professionals in Thunder Bay and the Region!” A new SHIFT welcome “hoo-rah” welcomed each new Board member to the SHIFT team, courtesy of Michael Nitz. Congratulations to the new SHIFT Board Directors!

Once the formalities of the AGM were complete it was on to speed networking where Herp Lamba (Investors Group) began with his comedic flair and it was off to the networking races. Pairs sat across from one another, and were alerted to SHIFT over by a ringing bell every 2.5 minutes, sharing minimal time together but making every second count. Peter Marchl, SHIFT Member Engagement & Recruitment Co-Director explained, “I felt the event went off without a hitch and I was encouraged to see so many new faces. This event is what SHIFT is all about, bringing people together, creating bonds, exchanging ideas and making our community stronger and more vibrant.“

Ian Wright, Marketing & Communications Director gave the closing remarks including SHIFT’s Charity of Choice; GenNext reminding attendees about the Day of Caring on June 22nd and congratulated the door prize winners; Cheryl Merlo from ThunderBayNightOut.com winner of an One Night Stay in an Executive Suite at the Airlane Hotel & Conference Centre and Amanda Mihalus owner of City Wide Sound who will be featured in SHIFT’s next Quarterly Newsletter.

SHIFT would like to thank Investors Group, the SHIFT Board Directors and Intern and all who attended for making this event the greatest SHIFT AGM & Speed Networking Event yet!

 The Brew & Beethoven (Fundraiser for TBSO) event at the Thunder Bay Armouries was a fantastic evening that SHIFT feels very fortunate to have taken part in! On April 20th, 2013 this sold out event was one to remember with the four tasty brews provided by Sleeping Giant Brewery Co., the stellar performances by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and SHIFT had a great time serving a delicious meal of fancy pulled pork sandwiches prepared by The Blue Door Bistro.  We would like to thank TBSO and the Brew & Beethoven crew for inviting SHIFT to participate in the excitement, our volunteers who helped make the SHIFT food booth a success and also the Brew & Beethoven guests for their support!

We are proud to have been part of an event so deserving of the positive reviews and feedback from those who attended and we look forward to next year!