In This Issue...
Chinese investors to return to Ontario East after successful scouting mission
A group of Chinese investors who visited Eastern Ontario in June to scout out tourism real estate properties were so impressed with investment opportunities here that they are planning a return trip in September.
Led on a tour by representatives of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, the eight Chinese businessmen were conducting an initial scouting mission, said Dan Borowec, Chairman of the Commission’s Tourism Investment Committee.
“The fact that we’re expecting another group back and there’s product that is of interest to them is a really positive sign,” said Borowec, who is also Director of Economic Development and Tourism for Northumberland County.
The Chinese businessmen were primarily interested in accommodation investment opportunities, such as holiday resorts. They were also excited about part of Eastern Ontario’s proximity to the Greater Toronto Area, which has a large Chinese population and could provide a crucial cultural connection, said Borowec.
The tour started in Port Hope and took the visitors to Gananoque, Brockville, Smiths Falls, Peterborough and Northumberland. Some of the investors also visited the wineries of Prince Edward County.
Dan Taylor, President and CEO of the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation, said the visit to his region has already born fruit.
“One of the delegates has made a $50,000 research donation to Trent University in support of the partnership with China’s Nanchang University,” said Taylor, who also heads the Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster.
Taylor said the Chinese visitors voiced an interest in more than just tourism investment during their Peterborough visit. They also wanted to learn about technology, particularly Trent University and the Peterborough Innovation Cluster, a non-profit corporation aiding local economic development through innovation.
June’s visit came as a result of annual marketing missions by Ontario East Economic Development Commission representatives to MIPIM, the world’s largest real estate investment exhibition and conference, in Cannes, France. The tour was orchestrated with help from the provincial government.
Borowec said the Chinese visit was a great learning opportunity for Ontario East’s economic developers, who now have a better idea of how to prepare for such visits.
For example, in the future, Ontario East Economic Development Commission representatives will make sure they have prepared easily digested information for investors upon their arrival. Packages with detailed information on investment opportunities will also be sent off in advance.
“We’re now in the midst of determining what they are looking for and being as prepared as we can for their return,” Borowec said of the Chinese investors.
Craft making hobby transforms into business with Canada-wide sales
A fascination with the plastic modeling material Fimo has become a booming business with nationwide sales for an Eastern Ontario woman and her partner.
Daria Petch and Alec Turner, owners of Gananoque’s Daria Done Ems Inc., employ five people who make ornaments out of Fimo that are sold at stores and at craft fairs across Canada.
The business started in 1987 in Edmonton where Petch began making whimsical earrings—like dog-and-fire-hydrant and bacon-and-egg pairs—and selling them to her colleagues at the school where she worked.
She started selling the ornaments at farmers’ markets and small craft shows and then branched out into making fridge magnets and Christmas ornaments.
In 2000, Petch met Turner and they moved to Ontario, Turner’s home province where they relocated the business.
Daria designs all of the Christmas ornaments and loves creating and playing with colour. The ornaments are always fun and colourful and are designed with families in mind. People from all across Canada collect the family ornaments and eagerly await the new one each year, says a release from the company.
Daria paints, mostly using acrylics—her art work and prints are sold at their Gananoque store as well—and she also uses Fimo to create millifiore caneworks, which are used to decorate functional household items. She makes wine glasses, mirrors, pencil holders, magnets, bowls of all shapes and sizes, vases, and more objects.
She sells these at her Gananoque store, Handworks Gifts and Gallery, where Daria demonstrates how she creates her polymer clay items while customers are in the store. The store also features works of other Canadian entrepreneurs from Victoria to Toronto.
Port Hope to energize downtown with long-term revitalization project
The Municipality of Port Hope is launching a downtown revitalization project that will strengthen its business core, re-energize the community and attract new visitors, residents, and investors.
The multifaceted, long-term initiative, recently approved by municipal councilors, is a key objective of the community’s corporate strategic plan, said Mayor Linda Thompson.
“The downtown revitalization project will help to preserve the heritage of our commercial core and strengthen its connection to the waterfront, enhancing the entire downtown area,” said Thompson.
The project’s community-driven model was developed by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs in 2010 using proven best practices from successful programs in the U.S. and Quebec.
Local businesses, building owners, community organizations, and residents will be directly involved and will work closely with key partners. These will include the Heritage Business Improvement Area, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario–Port Hope Branch, which recently committed $250,000 for heritage building improvements in the downtown core.
Port Hope’s downtown business core has been hurt by the economic downturn and negative national press related to historical issues.
Deputy Mayor Jeff Gilmer, Chair of the local Economic Development and Tourism Committee, said the project will boost tourism and raise the community’s profile as a tourism destination.
With funding through federal, provincial, and local partnerships, the municipality will further enhance its business retention and promotional initiatives and support the coordination and administration of the revitalization program. This will include contracting a dedicated coordinator to oversee details of development and implementation.
Kingston launched initiative to provide insight into local labour market
Kingston’s economic development agency is taking proactive steps to support community competitiveness through its greatest asset: its people.
Kingston Economic Development Corporation enlisted local businesses to participate in an online survey that will help assess the community’s current and forecasted labour market trends and its opportunities, and needs. It will also provide insight into the local labour market situation.
Input from community businesses, education leaders, and local stakeholders will ensure an informed reflection of projected labour force needs. It will also help KEDCO craft a strategy that strengthens local labour market readiness and workforce development.
“It is necessary to ensure that Kingston has an accurate and informed understanding of the local labour market and its current and projected employment trends,” said Elizabeth Allen, KEDCO’s Project Manager of Labour Market Development.
The survey was available on line until Aug. 10.
Federal government launches new southern Ontario innovation fund
The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario has launched a new $20-million investment in innovation fund that will support small- and medium-sized businesses in southern Ontario.
Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the agency otherwise known as FedDev Ontario, said the money will enable businesses to grow and develop new products, services, and technologies.
“This will diversify the economy, encourage greater innovation and create hundreds of jobs for southern Ontario,” Goodyear said in a release.
The $20-million contribution comes through FedDev Ontario’s Prosperity Initiative. This investment will support two funds, known as the Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation (SOFII) projects. SOFII will provide a $12-million fund in the west and an $8-million fund in the east.
These two funds will be delivered by southern Ontario’s two regional Community Futures Development Corporation networks: the Western CFDC Association and the Eastern CFDC Network Inc. to both smaller rural and larger urban communities.
During the projects’ first two years, the networks will provide business loans valued between $150,000 and $500,000 each to accelerate the growth of an estimated 80 southern Ontario small- and medium-sized businesses. It’s anticipated this will help create or maintain more than 700 full-time jobs. This will support innovation and growth in small- and medium-sized businesses in southern Ontario.
To learn more, please visit www.FedDevOntario.gc.ca or call 1-866-593-5505.
Innovative partners set stage for social enterprise leadership
Two community organizations in Kingston have launched the first location of the Centre for Social Enterprise.
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and the Social Planning Council of Kingston and District chose Kingston for the centre’s first campus.
“The Kingston Social Enterprise Centre is a dynamic social enterprise with a mission to catalyze social innovation in Kingston and area,” said David Jackson, the Social Planning Council’s research lead.
“It combines shared space and services, social innovation creativity and animation, project incubation and program delivery,” Jackson said. “It is an approach that is collaborative, systems changing and entrepreneurial."
Rev. Mark Tremblay of St. Andrew’s said it’s the church’s long-time mission to create workspaces to nurture social enterprises and foster an environment that develops new models and methods with “community-changing potential.”
The centre will provide skills development, training, feasibility and social business planning. A future social finance program will help seed and capitalize local social enterprises.
For more information visit www.spckingston.ca/cse or call 613-767-9397.
Barry’s Bay manufacturer launches cutting-edge green technology
A Barry’s Bay door manufacturer that specializes in green manufacturing has launched a new ultra-thin insulation system that it believes could change the way building products are made.
The new thermal stop system—which is just one hundred and sixty thousandths of one inch thick—has been dubbed “Insil-Stop” by creator Mike Snider, CEO of Madawaska Doors Inc.
Snider, whose business has seven times received the Consumers Choice Award for Business Excellence, said Madawaska Doors has engineered a system based on the application of a high temperature silicone-based mat impregnated with Aero Gel. Its doors systems are already either 100 percent biodegradable or 100 percent recyclable.
When applied to the centre of a typical wood door, the R-value increased beyond expectation to R-12, said a release from the company.
“Not only did we achieve a great insulation rating, but we also developed technology to bring this system affordably to the custom door market,” Snider said.
“At the end of the day, we have a product that’s biodegradable, recyclable, and now very energy efficient and completely customizable,” he said. “Home and business owners may now choose the warmth and beauty of real solid wood door systems designed to their own personal taste without sacrificing energy efficiency.”
The Insil-Stop system will also suppress fire and will be submitted to Underwriters Laboratories for full fire testing within the next year, Snider said.
The release said the new technology could change how many building products are made.
Cornwall CAO Paul Fitzpatrick retires after 35 years in public sector
After 28 years of serving Cornwall, the city’s chief administrative officer is retiring.
Paul Fitzpatrick will leave his job as of Jan. 31, 2013 in order to prepare the city for the transition into new leadership.
The CAO since 2006, Fitzpatrick oversaw the Parks and Recreation Department for five years before taking the position. Before that, he led the city’s Economic Development Department for 15 years.
During his tenure with the city, Fitzpatrick was integrally involved in a number of major projects that have shaped the city’s future, including the sale of Cornwall Electric and the creation of the Progress Fund.
Other important projects included the construction of the Benson Centre; the expansion of the Cornwall Business Park that has led to the presence of SCM, Shoppers Drug Mart and most recently Target; and the ongoing expansion of the waste water treatment facility.
Fitzpatrick said in a release that he feels fortunate to have worked with a “great team” that has shared a common vision of making Cornwall a better place to live.
“Together we have achieved a lot and I think there are even more exciting times ahead,” he said in the release.
In 2001, he was named Economic Developer of the Year by the Ontario East Economic Development Commission. Prior to joining the City of Cornwall, he worked as a special assistant to a federal cabinet minister in Ottawa.
Fitzpatrick’s community involvement has not been restricted to City Hall. He now serves as Chair of the board of governors of St. Lawrence College. He is a member of the board of directors of the St. Joseph Continuing Care Centre and he serves as the Chair of the Comprehensive Planning, Finance and Personnel Relations Committee with the care centre.