By Jennifer Wilner | Jan 22, 2026
On Friday, January 16, we celebrated the 10th business anniversary of Business Connects. It was a day that really felt surreal for me, because when I looked around the room at our members, I saw a community. This community didn’t just happen — it grew, piece by piece, moment by moment, over ten years.
I want to tell you a little story about how we got here.
Before Business Connects as you know it existed, before the chapters and the referrals and the friendships, there was just an idea — a simple one. I wanted to build something meaningful for small business owners. Something accessible. Something real. In 2016, with the help of our friends (local business owners too), Dr. Joe Hudak (Hudak Chiropractors), and Tamara Robb (Robb Digital), that seed became Edison Connects, a tiny group of people who believed that networking could be different — more human, more supportive, more collaborative. That belief is still at the core of who we are today, and it’s reflected in everything you’ll find on our website: a community that values authentic relationships, collaboration over competition, and growth through connection.
From those humble beginnings, we grew — sometimes slowly, sometimes in big leaps — into eight chapters and more than 80 members. We didn’t have fancy meeting rooms or big budgets. What we had was heart. And honestly, we met anywhere that would have us. Diners became our boardrooms. Coffee shops became our conference centers.
Every location holds a memory — a referral shared, a breakthrough moment, a new friendship formed.
If you’re reading this, you probably know our beloved Coffee House, the anchor of our Friday meetings for 9 years.
Then came the pandemic. Overnight, everything changed. But instead of falling apart, we pivoted. We showed up on Zoom, week after week, proving that connection doesn’t depend on a room — it depends on people. And so many showed up for each other in ways I’ll never forget.
We didn’t just survive those years — we kept growing. We kept learning. We kept supporting each other. And we made time for joy, too.
We’ve had fun at our monthly member dinners, street fairs, Multi Chamber Events, the Liberty Science Center (chauffeured in a fancy HLS limo bus), we made sweet memories at the Ice Cream House, and we built a community that feels more like family than a business networking group.
When I look at Business Connects today — at the mission on our website, at the members directory filled with passionate entrepreneurs, at the meetings that bring us together every week — I see the story we’ve written together. A story of resilience, creativity, and community. A story that started with a handful of people and grew into something bigger than I ever imagined.
To our longtime members, thank you for believing in this vision from the beginning. And to our newer members, thank you for stepping into a story that’s still being written — and for bringing your energy, your ideas, and your heart to it.
Here’s to the next decade of connection, collaboration, and community. I’m grateful to be on this journey with all of you!
I welcome you to peruse some of our celebration photos.
