London Recognized For Being Friendly to Home-Based Businesses

The City of London has been named one of the three most home business-friendly communities in Canada. The 4th Annual Home-Based Business Community Friendly Awards chose London as a winner due to its unique approach in supporting home-based businesses. "Council has often said that London is open for business," says Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco. "This is one more example that London is a business friendly city - right across the board from large industries to the home-based entrepreneur." Sandy Ross, founder of the Homepreneur Network, nominated the City of London for the awards after attending a Business Breakfast Exchange, organized by the Mayor's office. "I was encouraged to learn more about the City's vision for economic and business development in London and it was a pleasure to provide important input from the perspective of a home entrepreneur," says Ross. "It encouraged me to make a submission to the National Awards Committee, highlighting London's business friendly approach." The purpose of the awards is to recognize communities for their work in developing "friendly" by-laws and other initiatives to foster home-based business growth. The awards were founded in 1999 by Home Business Report magazine and RBC Royal Bank to educate Canadian communities on the importance of micro-entrepreneurs and to look at their individual by-laws, home-based business community programs, peer mentoring programs and any other initiatives to support home-based businesses. The award winners were chosen based on a national survey distributed to communities across Canada. The top three communities were selected for their track record in being supportive and helpful to the small and home-based business sector. Contact: Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco City of London 519.661-4920