Fidel Gastro's founder to speak at local business event

Bridges to Better Business, hosted by the Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship, is an annual event that brings together local professionals learning and networking. 

This year’s event will feature a keynote presentation from chef Matt Basile, who spent over a decade in the food industry as the founder of Fidel Gastro’s and Lisa Marie in Toronto. He is now the co-founder of Alchemy Grills. Basile has also hosted the reality television show Rebel Without a Kitchen, and has co-written two bestselling cookbooks, Street Food Diaries and Brunch Life.

Another highlight will be the pitch-off finale between entrepreneurs from two local businesses. After a competitive process involving over a dozen submissions, Arrows In Motion and CORE made it to the final round. The business owners will present their ideas to the audience and a judge’s panel live at the event. The audience will then have an opportunity to vote for their favourite pitch. The winner will receive a grand prize valued at $15,000, and the runner-up will receive a prize valued at $5,000.

The event is taking place during Small Business Week, an annual campaign facilitated by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), at the The Machine Shop on Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 5-8:30 p.m. Tickets are $50+HST or $375+HST for a table of eight. Click here for more information and to register. 

The organizing partners for Bridges to Better Business 2023 are BDC, Community Development Corp. of Sault Ste. Marie and area (CDC), Sault Ste. Marie 
Innovation Centre, and Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce. This event is further powered by TD Bank Group and the support of sponsorship from Accretive Studios, BDC, CDC, Century 21, Compass Imaging Group, Co-operators - J. Viotto and Company Inc., Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, Listener Tech, Northern Credit Union, Northern Ontario Angels, Spadafora Johnson Lepore LLP, and Wishart 
Law Firm.