GUELPH – The Viola Desmond BIPOC Business Directory lists information about businesses in Wellington County, Guelph, Waterloo Region and beyond whose owners are Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour.
The Guelph Black Heritage Society (GBHS) created and maintains the directory, which currently has 45 listings and was initially launched in the fall of 2021.
However, last year the GBHS hired a company to do some updates to the online directory, and “they basically trashed the website so it was not usable,” said GBHS president Denise Francis.
“So we had to hire another company to rebuild it.”
The directory was down for a few months while the rebuilding took place. Francis said officials at GBHS were “so disappointed.”
The directory is named the Viola Desmond BIPOC Business Directory in honour of Viola Desmond, a Black Nova Scotian civil and women’s rights activist and businesswoman.
Kween, the GBHS executive director, connected with Desmond’s sister, Wanda Robson, before she passed away in 2022. Robson gave the GBHS permission to name the directory after her sister.
“It’s so beautiful we were able to make that connection,” Francis said.
BIPOC business owners who want to be included in the directory can email info@guelphblackheritagesociety.ca or contact the society through the directory website. They will be sent a form to input their business details that will then be uploaded to the directory website.
Francis said “at the Guelph Black Heritage Society it is part of our mission to amplify the voices of our community,” and this directory is one way the society is able to do so.
No listing fee
She notes many other directories charge a listing fee but GBHS does not, because officials “feel it is a service we need to help promote and support our local community.”
There’s a wide range of businesses listed in the directory, including hospitality, food and beverage, accounting, dance and real estate – “so many areas our community excels at and we need to be able to let others know,” Francis notes.
She said GBHS officials are pleased that during the last week of Black Heritage Month “people continue to be interested and we hope that continues after the month is over.”
The Viola Desmond BIPOC Business Directory can be accessed at gbhsdirectory.ca.
