EFFY PEEL HAS BEEN DEDICATED TO JIM'S PIZZA FOR 40 YEARS

PEEL IS AMONG NINE INDUCTEES INTO THE JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

Jim's Pizza and Pasta first opened in 1970, at the corner of Brock and George streets by Effy Peel's parents.

Now, more than five decades later, she's leading the family business, looking back at the long legacy as she's being inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame.

"Every day is a special day; every day is a story," said Peel.

Her involvement in the business started in the 1980s when the restaurant was in its original location.

In 1996, they moved the restaurant to the corner of Charlotte and Aylmer streets. In 2013 they moved again to their current location at Aylmer and Hunter.

Despite changing location three times over the decades, Peel says the downtown has been a perfect home to her family's business. Jim's has even become a "trademark" of the downtown, having been a part of it for so long.

"The downtown has been great to us and 53 years does emphasize the success," she said.

But that doesn't mean there haven't been changes, one Peel says the business world has had to adapt around. Plenty of businesses have struggled with finding and keeping workers, but Peel says that's not the case at Jim's.

"I take care of my employees, I make sure they're well compensated and paid and that's the key to being successful," she said. "Even through COVID these past couple of years with people having issues getting help, I've been grateful to have great staff."

And that's one of the reasons why the business has been so successful, she credits, is the amazing staff who have carried it along.

"We've always had a great group of people working for us," she added.