January article from Terrance Gavin in the Highlander illustrated some mixed reviews from the crowd that gathered to hear about the proposed new website: www.MadeInHaliburton.ca. There was much optimism and excitement by many but also some concern by others. Now that the website is live and 40 artists have already chosen to sell their products in this manner, with more applications in the works, the press is more positive as is illustrated by this excerpt from an editorial by Bram Lebo of the Highlander.

By Bram Lebo:
“If, like me, you’ve had the good fortune to discover George’s Savoury Pies in Argyle (real lard, unreal crust), you’ll no doubt be familiar with George’s problem: there’s just not enough traffic on that country road to keep the ovens in business. Sadly, George has on more than one occasion had to close up for a month or three.
What George could use is a billboard on Highway 12, something to point the pie-lovers in his direction. Or, he might consider an online sales tool like MadeinHaliburton.ca, the website launched earlier this month.
Plans for the site were announced to the community in January and were greeted by a passive-aggressive combination of cautious enthusiasm (another grant project) and outright hostility (ripping off and stifling artists, not necessarily in that order). Now, roughly on time, it is here.” READ MORE >>>

At the launch of our site, the mood in the Art Hive on April 5th when the artists and project partners gathered in a private party to mark the occasion of the launch of the new website was upbeat and hopeful. Small sales had already been completed with shipping to Canada, USA and Hong Kong.