The Chamber of Commerce’s Business After 5, held on April 11, 2024, was hosted by Breaker 16. Business After 5 is a networking event organized by the local Chamber of Commerce where a selected business or organization hosts the event. It’s an opportunity for Chamber members to network with other businesses and organizations which is done every 2-3 months depending on the willingness of the business owners to host the event.

NAC TV had a chance to chat with Breaker 16 and some of the other businesses present at the event including Westman Communications Group, Westoba Credit Union and the Neepawa Settlement. Henry Reimer, owner of Breaker 16 Rental Equipment spoke about COVID-19’s impact on their business which opened in 2020, just two weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns started. “It had a lot of impact but as being a rental company we were essential. But it still held a lot of people back from trying to come in here because of COVID. But it’s been amazing, the support from the Town and the surrounding area and the people that has supported us and it has been amazing!” said Reimer. 

Westman Communications Group, a local cooperative connecting Manitobans to Internet, TV, and phone services was also at Bussiness After 5 and NACTV had a chat with their representative Eduardo Aquino who reflected on some issues their business has faced,  “We have been connecting every new community with fibre lines like Brandon, Neepawa, all these existing communities they were only coax connected. We had fibre to the community but internally we only had the coax connections which means that we didn’t get an underground connection to each businesses and houses. Now we are doing that. So every new community has the opportunity to have like symmetrical speeds for internet services which means you get the same upload and download speeds and you can get up to a gig speeds. Something that we didn’t offer before but now it’s possible because of this new fibre lines that we are building in new communities and eventually, we are hoping to upgrade every community to that.”.

Aside from the businesses, Neepawa Settlement which is a non-profit organization providing services to newcomers and immigrants also attended the event. NAC TV was able to interview their Employment Officer and Volunteer Coordinator providing a great opportunity for them to network with businesses in need of both volunteers and employees.