Ceilidh Tent & Event Rentals

For Shannon MacDougall, the decision to launch her business in Cape Breton was a no-brainer. Born and bred in Port Hood, a scenic seasonal community surrounded by five sandy beaches, she didn’t even entertain the idea of setting up shop elsewhere.
 
She started up Ceilidh Tent & Event Rentals four years ago with her husband Bill, recalling how difficult it was to find a tent locally for their wedding four years earlier.
           
“We’d talked about different options for our wedding and I was disappointed that I could not have our wedding amongst some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, and really, here in Cape Breton, outdoor weddings were not popular.”
           
To Shannon, Cape Breton is one of the most beautiful islands in the world and the perfect place to grow a business that she hopes her two boys, now seven and four, will one day want to take over. It’s important to her to give them the opportunity to work here instead of feeling compelled to leave the province to succeed, she says.
           
The couple could have gone out west or to Ontario but soon realized the value of staying in Nova Scotia.
When they first started out, everything the MacDougalls needed fit into the back of a pickup truck. Shannon, her husband and her father did all of the setup themselves and if that took until 10 p.m., other family members were there to pitch in.
 
“We’re not a big corporation; we’re a family-owned business and I think that people truly feel that when they deal with us,” Shannon says. “We try to go above and beyond for them.”
 
They have also managed to build important relationships with local businesses such as wedding decorators and linen rentals.
 
Ceilidh Tent, which also rents tables, chairs and equipment, started off doing a lot of weddings, but soon branched out to family reunions, barbecues and corporate get-togethers. This summer, the company serviced the Tall Ships gathering in Port Hawkesbury.
           
Shannon says when the company was first formed, clients would sometimes have an image of striped awnings when they thought of event tents and were constantly amazed by the transformation into palatial high-end venues with beautiful decor. No tacky awning stripes here – Ceilidh Tent uses only all-white, sturdy canvas structures with French windows.
 
Although the season is short – just May until October – business takes the MacDougalls all across Cape Breton Island and occasionally onto the mainland. Shannon has already racked up the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce award for New Business of the Year in 2006 and the Cape Breton Partnership 2009 Women in Business: Impact award. Not bad for her first foray into the business world.
 
“I have a true appreciation for natural beauty and I think that’s what helped me grow into this business,” she says. 
 
The family-owned company has come a long way since the days of hauling all the gear around themselves in that pickup truck. This summer, the MacDougalls bought a 40- by 80-foot tent, which now puts them in a whole new category. They also have two “incredible” students working for them.
 
Ceilidh Tent employee Sheamus MacDonald, a 20-year-old aquatic resources student at Saint Francis Xavier University, could have gone to Iqaluit for the summer. He has three siblings, an aunt and an uncle there and he could have worked in his field had he joined them. 
 
Instead, he chose to remain in Port Hood so he could work for the MacDougalls.
 
“Usually a lot of us go up during the summer but I worked with Shannon last year – that was my first year with Ceilidh Tent – and when it came to this year to make a decision whether to go or not, I decided to stay home because it is a great company to work for. I like the job a lot.”
 
Sheamus knows he’s giving up a career opportunity right now but says sometimes life experience is just as important. By staying in Nova Scotia, he gets to enjoy the beaches, bonfires and fishing trips and he`ll be around the water all day anyway.
 
While Shannon is from Port Hood, her husband Bill is from Long Pond, a community located about 20 minutes away. Both of them truly love the area.
 
Shannon says she has had her own business for as long as their two sons can remember. If they do end up taking over Ceilidh Tent, they already have a good head start.
 
“My business phone rings and my seven-year-old will say, `Mom, it’s your business line. Do you want me to get it?’”