Truro & Colchester Partnership for Economic Prosperity

08/29/2026

Thinking About Closing Your Business? There May Be Another Option.

Across our region, there are much valued businesses whose owners are approaching retirement or simply ready for the next chapter.

Too often, the assumption is that when the owner is finished, the business is finished too.

It doesn’t have to be.

If you have built a successful business over 10, 20 or 30 years, you have likely created something of real value: a useful product or service, a customer base, reputation, equipment, employees, supplier relationships, knowledge, and cash flow.

Closing the doors can mean walking away from much of that value.

Selling the business — whether to another entrepreneur, an employee, a competitor or an investor — may allow you to realize some of the value you have spent years creating. It can also protect jobs, keep customers served and keep a successful business operating in our community.

And you don’t have to figure it out alone.

The Truro & Colchester Partnership (TCPEP) would like to speak confidentially with local business owners who are thinking about retirement, succession or selling their business — whether that is happening soon or still a few years away.

We can help you think through your options, understand what may be required to prepare your business for sale, and connect you with resources and potential next steps.

There is no obligation, and the conversation is completely confidential.

If you own a business in any of the communities in Colchester County and have been wondering, “What happens to my business when I’m ready to leave?” — talk to us before you simply close the doors.

Email our CEO at [email protected] or hit us up on Facebook Messenger.

Don’t just close it. Value what you’ve built.

08/11/2026

Attention Truro & Colchester area restaurants!

Join Restaurants Canada and Kibbi on Tuesday, August 25 for a webinar exploring how AI can help strengthen your team.

Learn how practical AI tools can help streamline onboarding and training, improve productivity, and support employee development - with real-world applications you can put to work in your restaurant.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how AI can help you build and support a stronger team.

08/04/2026

The TCPEP Team was delighted to sponsor Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston’s State of the Province address in Truro today. Nova Scotia’s economic future is very bright if we play our cards right. And we at TCPEP are determined to do our part in the continued growth and prosperity of our great province.

07/31/2026

07/06/2026

A very warm welcome to the newest cohort of North Nova Family Medicine Residents!

We were thrilled to host a welcome reception and spend time with these physicians as they begin the next chapter of their training here in Nova Scotia.

Over the next two years, they will be learning and working in communities across Colchester, Cumberland, Pictou, and Antigonish counties. We are so pleased to welcome them, support them, and help them feel at home in our region.

07/02/2026

Successful Local Machine Shop Business For Sale

A rare opportunity is available to acquire a well-established, fourth-generation machine shop, just outside Truro, serving Colchester County and the surrounding region. This successful local business is being offered for sale as a going concern and has built a strong reputation for manufacturing, repair, and custom work, primarily in steel. The shop serves a loyal and diverse customer base, including agricultural clients, distribution businesses, commercial operators, local companies, and walk-in customers. The business is fully operational and supported by a broad range of paid-for equipment, including drill presses, tool and cutter grinders, lathes, milling machines, shaper, bandsaws, ironworker, shear, press brakes, boring mill, and roll bender.The property is owned, and the building is paid for. The business currently supports five positions, including administration. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced operator, tradesperson, manufacturer, entrepreneur, or existing business looking to expand capacity, acquire equipment, secure a local customer base, and continue the legacy of a respected regional machine shop.Serious inquiries only. Confidentiality will be respected. Contact: [email protected]

07/02/2026

The Municipality of Colchester is developing voluntary, incentive-based guidelines to encourage new buildings to be constructed with higher energy efficiency and better climate resilience than currently required by the National Building Code. We would love to hear from the business community and public about how to get the guidelines right. We want them to be practical, effective, and value-adding. This first workshop is about the guidelines themselves, and a second workshop later this summer will explore incentive options.

Workshop details
Date: July 7
Time: 6:00-7:30PM
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
For more info and to register: https://colchestergds1.eventbrite.ca/

06/25/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the TCPEP Annual General Meeting yesterday.

It was wonderful to connect, share updates on TCPEP’s work, and spend time with our clients, partners and community.

Special thanks to Marigold Cultural Centre for hosting us, The Commune for the delicious food, Horse Thief Vineyards for providing complimentary samples to our guests, and our guest speaker Barb Stegemann, Founder & President of The 7 Virtues, for sharing such an inspiring story of entrepreneurship, resilience, and social impact.

We appreciate everyone who attended and helped make this year’s AGM such a meaningful event.

06/24/2026

TCPEP’S AGM IS TODAY! JOIN US!

Please join us at the TCPEP Annual General Meeting (AGM), taking place at the Marigold Cultural Centre at 605 Prince Street, Truro, on 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟰, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟭𝟭:𝟬𝟬𝗮𝗺-𝟭:𝟬𝟬𝗽𝗺.

Join us for a networking session from 11-11:45am, followed by the AGM from 11:45am - 1pm.

𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗚𝗠 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿: 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗯 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻, 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 & 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟳 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗲𝘀

Barb Stegemann launched The 7 Virtues from her garage on a Visa card, armed only with a dream to help communities in war ridden nations rebuild. Her vision was inspired after her best friend, a soldier, was severely wounded in Afghanistan. Believing that economic empowerment creates stability, she began sourcing organic, fair trade essential oils from countries experiencing turmoil, from Afghanistan and Haiti to Rwanda and the Middle East.

Sixteen years later, The 7 Virtues is an award-winning social enterprise and the only Canadian perfume brand sold at Sephora, now available in over 2,100 stores worldwide across 19 countries. It is also the only B Corp certified perfume brand at Sephora, committed to paying employees a livable wage and leaving a better footprint on the planet. On Canada Day 2024, Barb opened her first perfume atelier in Halifax, where clients design and name their own perfumes, with more ateliers planned across North America.

Barb first came to national attention when she became the first woman from Atlantic Canada to secure a venture capital deal on CBC’s Dragons’ Den. She later earned the title of Top Game Changer in the history of the show when viewers voted for her social enterprise. In 2026, she returned to Dragons’ Den as the first Atlantic Canadian Dragon for CBC’s 20th anniversary two part special.

Her leadership has been recognized with numerous honors, including being named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Atlantic Emerging Entrepreneur, and Profit Guide’s Top 30 Cool and Fabulous Entrepreneurs. She also broke barriers as the first female Honorary Colonel in the history of 14 Wing Greenwood, Royal Canadian Air Force and completed her term in 2014 and remains a Hon Colonel for life.

Barb is the author of the bestselling book The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen, now in its 9th edition, and her story is the subject of the award-winning documentary Perfume War, available at PerfumeWar.com.