Adding more than $1Million to Community Futures Program annual budget

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Adding more than $1Million to Community Futures Program annual budget

Written by Press Release on 23 January 2011

January 19, 2011

Minister Clement Announces Support For Small Businesses in Northern Ontario

Minister Tony Clement

The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for FedNor, today announced that small businesses across Northern Ontario will have greater access to services, support and financing, giving them more opportunities to grow and create new jobs, thanks to a new investment by the Government of Canada.

“Northern Ontario’s economy is showing encouraging signs of recovery, but it is our government’s job to help make sure that hard-working families and businesses have the tools they need to succeed,” said Minister Clement. “This investment in local small businesses will help ensure future prosperity by giving them more access to capital and knowledge to build on their ideas.”

The additional $1.136 to the annual budget of the Community Futures Program announced today is part of an $11 million announced in Year Two of Canada’s Economic Action Plan to help Community Futures Organizations across the country adapt to new and changing economic realities, such as increased demand by small businesses, globalization, and a decline in primary resource-based industries in rural communities.

While in Thunder Bay, Minister Clement also announced a FedNor investment of $100,000 in support of the Northwestern Ontario investment pool, a partnership initiative involving many of the region’s CFDCs, geared to helping meet small business demand for larger loans.

Minister Clement made the announcements today at Thunder Bay Hydraulics, a local small business that has benefited from support from Thunder Bay Ventures, one of 24 (CFDCs) financed by FedNor and serving Northern Ontario.

“We view the Government of Canada’s commitment to the Community Futures Program as a vote of confidence in our collective ability to build community capacity to overcome local challenges,” said John Wynn, President, Thunder Bay Ventures. “In addition, this funding will assist the CFDCs in the region to continue to respond to investment opportunities in a timely fashion.”