This past week was the 2018 Ontario BIA Association (OBIAA) annual conference in Collingwood, Ontario.

BIAs (Business Improvement Areas) play an incredibly important role in setting our local communities up for success, with thriving and vibrant downtown cores as the goal.

The people who are attracted to the world of BIAs are some of the most dedicated and passionate about supporting local businesses that you'll ever find.

For this reason, ShopCity.com was proud to participate in our second OBIAA conference, this time as exhibitors.

Director of Training, Andrew Perkins, ShopCity.com founder, Colin Pape, and General Manager, Rick Kloss, attended the event and had a great time meeting with Ontario's downtown leaders and experts, discussing the shop local movement and learning from some real visionaries in the field.

After recently partnering up with the Bloor West Village BIA, the world's first BIA, to run ShopBloorWest.com, ShopCity.com developed an offering specifically for BIAs and is excited to implement the model in more business districts to help local merchants be found online when people are beginning their purchase journeys.