The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

~BUSINESS Aepmt ‘Aepuq d The Chamber hosts these monthly sessions to help budding Oakville â€"entrepreneurs who want to start out on their own. The next panel will meet at the Chamber Office, on Wed., May 25th, at 7 p.m. « Starting a business? New, Renewal and Subscribers that Convert to to paying in advance will receive 2 free Shop Locally Cards, offering unlimited savings opportunities, e free upon joining in on our ‘,g?« 112. week subscription. Are you considering starting your own business? Have you recently started one?â€" The Oakville Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly â€" Starting A Business Panel â€" can provide you with free expert advice. The panelists featured are experts in their fields which include: accounting, investment banking, insurance, and law. Everything you need to know about starting your own business. The experts won‘t waste much time talking! They are there to answer YOUR questions. There will be an information table featuring publications pertinent to starting a business including the Chamber‘s own "Starting A Business In Oakville" book. To register, please call (905) 845â€" 6613. Sessions are held based on sufficient registration. Spaces are limited. SPREAD _ Company wants to empower physically challenged Guaranteed Home Delivery 3 Times a week for 112 weeks Sheet s Canada‘s population ages and its health care dollars Ashn'nk, increasing emphasis is being placed on home care as opposed to institutional care. _ . According to Statistics Canada, 93 percent of people over 65 are living in their own homes. In order to assist these people in maintaining their independence, there are often special needs which must be met. This is where Oakville entrepreneur Robert Harvey enters the picture with his new business, Silver Cross,. which he says is dedicated to empowering the elderly and physically challenged. Armed with these figures, Harvey decided to turn his attention to meeting these people‘s needs. His first step was to make arrangements with a variety of manufacturers to distribute assistive devicesâ€"anything from magnifying glasses to wheelchairsâ€"at below market prices. The tougher part was to find out who needed the products and how to reach them. "A lot of these people are housebound, and they don‘t really know much about what‘s available for them," explains Harvey. "Unlessâ€"they‘re in contact with medical professionals or therapists, many of them are missing out on the information they need." The focus of Harvey‘s business is on reaching out to the elderly and physically challenged with the information and "assistive devices" they need to live independently and with dignity. Drawing on research conducted by Statistics Canada, Harvey said he learned that up to 15 percent of the population of Oakville has a physical disability of some kind. He also learned that at least 10 percent of people who need some type of physically a351st1ve device don‘t have them. j Harvey‘s company deals in a wide selection of assistive devices and daily living aids that range in price from a few dollars for something like a long shoehorn to $10,000. Realizing that some of the higher ticket items could be out of reach for many people on a fixed income, Harvey has also researched all the funding sources Local Kmart outlet ‘ undergoing facelift Eberhard says the redesign and reâ€"organization is part of Kmart‘s fiveâ€"year multiâ€"million dollar redevelopment strategy begun in 1991, designed to reposition Kmart as "Canada‘s most powerful and progressive merchandiser." New features in the revamped stores include food courts, hair salons, banking machines, photo studios, auto centres and pharmacies. In addition, an expanded variety of brand name products and trendier fashions highlight the new stores. Physically, the store will be enhanced by bright track lighting, larger racks to offer customers a greater variety of merchandise, colorful displays, wide straight aisles, and a complete reâ€"organization of departments to ensure convenient shopping. There are approximately 130 Kmart stores nationwide, and the last one to receive a similar treatment is this area is located at Eaton Sheridan Place in southwest M1ss1ssauga, Eberhard says. "What our customers can expect is an updated stateâ€"ofâ€"theâ€" art store that will basically look like brand new. We invite everyone to come in and see how different it will be." Construction began May 9th, and near the end of August, the store‘s management team will hold a grand reopening and invite local dignitaries. The Oakville link in the 30â€"yearâ€"old Canadian discount retail chain has beenâ€"an Oakville landmark for more than a quarter century. That link is currently being drilled, sawed and hammered into the 1990s, with a complete renovation and facelift, according to Dennis Eberhard, real estate development manager for Kma:t Canada Limited. "There will be no closings during construction, and we‘re trying to keep disruptions to a minimum," Eberhard says. If you haven‘t heard the buzzing of saws or climbed around the barriers, then you may not be aware that the Kmart store at 1455 Rebecca St. (Hopedale Mall) is undergoing major surgery. In an effort to reach as many people as possible, Harvey gives presentations at seniors residences, clubs and also at malls. It is the goal of his company to involve the physically challenged dlrectly in the business. To this end, he tries to recruit seniors or the physically challenged to become involved in the marketing of the products in return for a percentage of the sales. As Harvey puts it, " It just makes sense to empower the physically challenged to control what they need." Anyone wishing further information on Silver Cross can call 847â€"5504. Robert Harvey of Silver Cross: empowering the elderly and physicallyâ€"challenged available which he says can be very confusing and overlapping. From bathroom safety equipment to ramps, walkers and chair lifts, Harvey says he offers a huge range of productsâ€"what he calls the "Price Club" of assistive devices.