Our latest "How we got here and why we stay" is about Bill Monahan, his wife Judy, and his unique Homebuttons electronics business.  Bill is a local singer-songwriter and now a member of the Hub team.

My wife Judy and I arrived in Meaford in the fall of 2009 and in January of 2010 I launched my business- Homebuttons- in this region.
Homebuttons had been in existence since 1998, when I first had the idea that electronics would be an important part of the future home. I had been working in the insurance industry for almost twenty years, restoring homes that had been damaged by fires, floods and other perils, and I was looking for a new direction. Having established Homebuttons, I had the flexibility to move easily from CCTV and security systems to consumer entertainment electronics, door entry systems, telephone systems, lighting controls, and everything else I needed to learn. Eventually I worked my way up to designing and installing complete control systems, on luxury projects like The Liberty Grand and the Hazelton Hotel.
The next part of my plan was to find a town well outside of the Greater Toronto Area to set up my business. All of my family on both sides had come from the Owen Sound area, where I had been born, and I knew the area fairly well. One weekend my wife Judy and I looked around for a place to live. We fell in love with Meaford the moment we saw it, and decided that was where we wanted to live.
Once we settled in Meaford we found it a very vibrant place to live in contrast to the sleepy abandoned appearance of the main street on a weekend. I was intent on being an active part of the community and, through volunteering, I was able to meet very interesting people and participate in interesting projects. I joined the Meaford Rotary Club, and the boards of the Home and Community Support Services for Grey Bruce, and the North-East Grey Health Centres. I helped the Handivan Association through the process of purchasing a new van and I was able to pursue my lifelong hobby of singing and writing songs, finding people to play with and places to perform. The more I volunteered, the more I was asked to do and the more people I was able to get to know.
I found that there is a significant demand for personal home services, particularly in setting up TVs and home theatre. I also learned that this area is facing a crisis with an aging population. There is a shortage of long term care facilities, and many people having retired here to their dream home, would rather stay in it anyway as long as they possibly could. That sent me in the direction of thinking about how electronics could help. As I began to offer devices that would aid in independent living, I also began to appreciate the extent to which elderly people living on their own represent a constant worry for their loved ones. Whether they are close by or far away, they are always concerned about how mom and dad are doing. I shifted the focus of my company to put more emphasis on this aspect of it, while still continuing to offer at-home installation of all electronics, a wide variety of cutting edge products for custom applications, and a complete system design and installation service.
Now Homebuttons has a loyal customer base and my customers have become my friends. The Municipality of Meaford has come to seem more like home than anywhere has before, its problems and challenges becoming personal for me. I happily travel throughout the region to offer my services from Tobermory to Wasaga Beach, and down the shore as far as Port Elgin. I expect that Homebuttons will develop alongside the inevitable development of our region, and I will be able eventually to bring along young people to carry on after me.