Ontario Built

  Burlington, Ontario — What started with years of experience in carpentry has grown into a specialized family-run business helping entrepreneurs, event professionals and brands bring their setups to life. Meet Guillermo “Memo” Hernandez , the owner and craftsman behind Memo’s Mobile Bars , a Burlington-based business creating handcrafted, portable and collapsible wooden bars designed for businesses, events, pop-ups and brand activations. For Memo, the business is about more than building something that looks good. It is about creating something that works. After working in carpentry for many years, Memo wanted to take his experience in woodworking and apply it to something more specialized. Portable bars became the perfect combination of several things he enjoyed — skilled craftsmanship, practical problem-solving and custom design. The idea also came from recognizing a need in the market. Many small businesses, event professionals and vendors need a setup that looks professional ...

  Give a puck. Take a puck. Every assist counts. In Brantford, hockey is more than a sport. It is part of the community’s identity. For Steve Karalis, that connection became the inspiration for a simple idea designed to help people in a very different way — by using a hockey puck to bring a little kindness into the everyday lives of local residents. That idea is Pass the Puck Forward, a month-long pilot initiative launched in September that gives Brantford residents an opportunity to help someone else enjoy a meal, coffee, baked good or drink when they may need a little extra help. And the concept is incredibly simple. At participating local businesses, customers can purchase a mini hockey puck for $1 and place it in a “Give a Puck” jar. Those pucks are then made available in a “Take a Puck” jar, where another customer can use them toward a purchase. No complicated system. No lengthy application. Just a small gesture from one person that can make someone else’s day a little easier....

  For Rebecca Latour and her partner Ben, The Hitchin’ Post is more than just a mobile bar. It is the result of an idea that sat in the back of Rebecca’s mind for years, a lot of hard work, plenty of learning along the way, and a shared desire to create something of their own. Today, the couple are the co-owners of The Hitchin’ Post , a fully converted horse-trailer-turned-mobile-bar that brings a unique country-inspired cocktail experience directly to weddings, birthdays, corporate events, private parties and celebrations across the region. Their tagline, “Where Country Charm Meets Cocktail Hour,” perfectly captures what they have created. But the story behind the business started long before the trailer ever hit the road. Rebecca grew up working in her grandmother’s bakery. From a young age, she knew she wanted to eventually own a business of her own. For years, she assumed that business would be a bakery. She even remembers taking an entrepreneurship class in high school and lo...