BONNERS FERRY — Over coffee, doughnuts, and conversation, the members of The Coalition teamed up with the Bonners Ferry Entrepreneurs and held an entrepreneur meet and greet at The Plaza Downtown, which allowed upcoming business owners to network with other existing and potential local business owners in the area.

“This is the start of it. We are trying to get entrepreneurs together on a more regular basis so that everybody knows who is who in town so that people can help each other out,” said Dennis Weed, the Boundary County Economic Development Council’s executive director.

“The mixer facilitated an excellent opportunity for discussions, ideas, and networking,” stated Tess Rae, owner of the Plaza Downtown.

This is the beginning of the meet and greet gatherings, with many more to come. They not only bring upcoming business owners together, it allows them to socialize with one another and, in turn, help one another build a local foothold for their businesses.

“With a motivated group of business owners comes an abundance of opportunities,” explained Kim Baird in an article on amazingbusiness.com titled, “Top 9 benefits of business networking.” “There are always lots of opportunities that come from networking and in fact this is where the benefits of business networking are huge”

Networking in the business aspect not only opens doors to upcoming business owners, but it allows existing business owners to find a venue that may help them expand their business hand in hand with the businesses that are looking to come to the area.

“If you want a really successful business, then you need to have a great source of relevant connections in your network that you can call on when you need them,” said Baird. “Networking provides you with a great source of connections, and really opens the door to talk to highly influential people that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to easily talk to or find.”

With many people looking to bring their business to Boundary County, the connections began to be established during the meet and greet Feb. 12.

With the support of existing business owners, the Chamber of Commerce, and the community, Boundary County businesses will continue to grow, expand, and flourish with it’s growing population.

For more information, or to contact, visit www.bonnersferrychamber.org or tessrae@theplazadowntown.com