Ontario Built

  The Folk @thefolkca is an apparel/lifestyle brand that is based out of… yep, you guessed it Norfolk County! Started in May 2020, the beginning of the pandemic, as many businesses were. The folk has three founders - Eric, Ashley and Drew. Norfolk County has often been referred to as ‘the Folk’ by many of its residents. Eric would often refer to it as ‘the Folk’ too when heading home from school after term. He had created merch items previously and thought it was the coolest thing when he would see other people walking around sporting his designs. Eventually, Ashley and Drew came to him with the idea of starting a clothing brand and they all thought it was a perfect fit! The residents of Norfolk County are often very proud of where they are from and having a brand that represents their hometown area is a concept that people love to jump on. The Folk has a generic main line that has “The Folk” branded apparel, but their lineup doesn’t stop there. In addition they have other line ups...

  Harvey Homes and Interiors @harveyhomesandinteriors is owned and was started by Jeff Harvey back in 2010. The company has gained a lot of traction on social media with almost 24,000 followers on instagram. Jeff has done a great job on posting excellent content online, but his great work doesn’t stop there. His business has been very successful and that didn’t happen overnight or without any long days or hard work put in. A bit about Jeff before we continue on his business journey. Jeff is a builder, a developer, a Red Seal Carpenter, a business owner and a Father and Husband. When Jeff started Harvey Homes and Interiors, it started as a framing and general contracting business. Since then, his business venture has grown to four companies - framing, project management, housing rentals and real estate development. Jeff is the sole owner of three of those companies and is a 50/50 partner in Rougemount Development Inc. their development company. Jeff has always been interested in the...

  The Tree Medic was started (officially) in June 2020 by owner Reilly Huffman. Huffman is an Ontario Qualified Arborist (444A) through Skilled Trades Ontario (formerly Ontario College of Trades).  The Tree Medic is a full-service tree company with a primary focus on preservation and holistic plant health services (meaning, no pesticides). In addition to the general tree services and plant health services, The Tree Medic also offers private forest management plans for properties that do not qualify for Ontario’s Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program but would like a forest management plan for their property. Huffman started his business like most people in the trades do. It started as weekend work and eventually flourished into a business. At the beginning it was difficult as it normally is for a new business. Getting into the local market was tough. With flyers, brochures and door-to-door there were times at the beginning that he almost shut it down. But, with the right market...

  Sweet Lou's Cookies was opened by Lou Gazzola in March of 2020 (yes, the beginning of the pandemic). It was founded and built in a test kitchen six months prior, but with enough success Lou decided to approach the bank to secure funding and lock in a lease at their location at 341 Weber St. N, Waterloo. Sweet Lou’s Cookies doesn’t only specialize in cookies, but milkshakes, sundaes and ice cream sandwiches as well! If you can’t make it out to the location, no worries. They can get your artisanal fresh-baked cookies delivered to you through Uber Eats, DoorDash or Skip The Dishes. Lou has been an intrepreneur and innovator for 20 years, working with large companies such as TD and Rogers launching major internet services and websites for them. Throughout his career he had written many business cases, and when the idea of a cookie business came to mind, he decided to write up a business case and present it to investors and bankers whom supported the idea. So, why the cookie business?...

  Brainy Games was started in 2016 by Mark Kolb the ‘Merchant of Fun’. Mark started the business out of his home in Aurora, Ontario. When asking Mark about the name he said the name Brainy Games simply came from the opportunity of the domain .games being available. The company was sprouted from an unfortunate event of Mark losing his programming job. Mark was able to utilize his skills from his programming job and creatively started to design games. One of his sons and him took a laser cutting course through NewMakeIt, which enabled him to be able to use a laser cutter which is the main star of the show beside Mark to make this company successful. Mark’s creativity is non-stop as he has around 300 products available on his website for individuals and families to stay entertained with.  Mark has designed many games over the past seven years, but had one in particular that was completely sold out and has now been licensed to Outset Media as Sidelinks. There have been over 11,000...

  Get Outdoors Training @get_outdoors_training was founded in 2018 by Richard King. Get Outdoors Training is a company that provides first aid training, survival training, and a multitude of other outdoors courses and workshops. The name came from Richard noticing that the next generation (and his 3 children) seemed to not enjoy getting outdoors as much and were focused on technology. He believed that the skills he strives to teach with his business are life-saving skills and are crucial to learn. He has encouraged them to get out more and would love for everyone to follow the same path.  The business sparked from Richard realizing that he was a terrible student with first-aid courses. He had the mentality that he could teach them better and used this fuel to push forward. Richard found that often people would admit to not remembering all that was taught to them from their past CPR, first-aid, or survival courses because they were boring and the content was dry. He has found w...

  No.7 Hot Sauce was started in 2013 by husband and wife team Carlos & Sandra Flores. This was not the first business they had started, however, it was started inside of their first business. Carlos and Sandra are also the owners of Cafe Con Leche - a coffee shop located in the Junction Triangle in Toronto. They started bottling their hot sauce during quiet moments, after hours and everything in between. While also running their coffee shop. They stored their bottles under cafe benches as well as in the basement of the coffee shop. Eventually, word got around and they got asked to be part of tradeshows, do in-store demos and be part of festivals. This progressed to fall fairs and the CNE as well! All the buzz sparked tons of interest in their product. So much so that they can now be found in independent shops, restaurants as well as online.  In addition to their success, they work with Quesada Burritos & Tacos - a Canadian chain. They supply their products to them thro...