At the April 16 morning meeting of the Rotary Club of Hamilton AM,  the guest speaker was Benson Honig, the University Business Chair in Social Entrepreneurship at McMaster University. He is a Director at the Centre for Research on Community Oriented Entrepreneurship at the DeGroote School of Business.   

He discussed his efforts to build entrepreneurship skills among disenfranchised communities in Brazil, Kenya, Poland and locally in Hamilton.  He described a very interesting process where he was able to assess local need for services and technology needed to support small business entrepreneurs.  He was then able to teach proper business practices that were more likely to produce success. 

 

He has developed a series of “case studies” that illustrate how progress can be made at the local level.  He is currently building a cadre of “virtual mentors” who can be available to support projects any where in the world.  A number of club member signed up to serve as virtual mentors, indicating their particular areas of expertise that can be called upon depending on local project need.

 

This is a very unique, positive program that fits nicely with Rotary Internationals goals to support local communities and encourage involvement of Rotarians in world projects.

 

On April 9, 2025 at their regular Wednesday morning meeting, Hamilton AM Rotary club members had their eyes opened about the upcoming Open Doors Ontario Program.  Natasha Smith, Volunteer Co-ordinator highlighted some of the Hamilton buildings that will be featured locally in this program to be held on May 3 and 4 all across the Province.

 

Natasha pointed out that Hamilton has many beautiful old properties that have found new lives through adaptive reuse. By far the most sustainable of building methods, the adaptive reuse movement recognizes that the greenest building is the one that is already there. This year, a number of Hamilton buildings will illustrate how you can use, restore and repurpose old buildings. The craftsmanship of the past is made vibrant through the technologies of the present.

From Dundas to Ancaster to Stoney Creek to Downtown Hamilton, experience Doors Open where everything old is new again.

Hamilton AM members have an opportunity to act as volunteer "hosts" at the Hamilton locations.  This is being considered as a club "Community Service" opportunity and likely several members will team up at Magnolia Hall, the former St Mark's Church, recently renovated.