Town Media (which includes BIZ Magazine and Hamilton Magazine) is a generous returning partner of LiONS LAIR. We chatted with Editor, Marc Skulnick, about why Town Media stays involved with the LiONS LAIR competition – here’s what he had to say:

Please tell us about your organization, Town Media!

BIZ Magazine has been celebrating, and shining a spotlight on, local businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups for more than two decades now. As editor, it’s my responsibility to generate story ideas, assign the articles and generally oversee all editorial aspects of the magazine. It truly is my dream job and I love every part of it.

Why did your organization decide to (generously!) support this year’s LiONS LAIR competition? How has partnering with LiONS LAIR impacted your organization? 

LiONS LAIR is undoubtedly the area’s leading celebration of small business and getting involved was a no-brainer since the competition dovetails so nicely with what we do in each and every issue of BIZ. As for impact, I can’t tell you how many times people have mentioned about hearing of us through our sponsorship with LiONS LAIR. This is our third consecutive year and the event just keeps getting bigger and better – just like BIZ Magazine.

What was your favourite part about last year’s competition and/or gala?

I absolutely love the celebratory vibe at the gala itself. Whether the finalists win or not, the event is the culmination of hours, days and months of hard work and the love, support and admiration of each and every person in the room is palpable. Who doesn’t want to surround themselves in that?

What are you most looking forward to in this year’s competition?

Ultimately I love the suspense of finding out who will win – and I really enjoy watching the videos of the pitches! And Carmen’s serves up a mighty fine meal, so it’s a win-win all ‘round!

Anything you’d like to say to this year’s finalists? 

Congratulations to each and every one of you – I know it’s cliché, but getting this far is a massive achievement unto itself and the future is very bright regardless of what happens on the night. You’re also helping to change the face of Hamilton in so many ways, not to mention inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs, and for that you should also be very proud.

How can we connect with Town Media?

Best way is on Twitter – @Biz_Mag for BIZ Magazine and @MarcSkulnick for me personally. If you’d like to contact me for story ideas for BIZ (or Hamilton Magazine), I can be reached at MSkulnick@postmedia.com