All posts by ON Regional Economic Development

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How prepared are you when Navigating the Agricultural Economy?

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The 10thannual Municipal Agriculture Economic Development and Planning Forum is being held October 3 and 4th, hosted by the County of Wellington and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Explore Wellington County on a bus tour on October 3rd, with local food lunch and dinner included. Learn about different agriculture-related businesses and how you can support similar agriculture activities in your region.IMG_3683

Tour locations include: 

  • Angelstone International Show Jumping Tournaments
  • Rootham Gourmet Preserves
  • Strom’s Farm and Bakery
  • Mapleton’s Organic Dairy
  • Elora Brewing Company

On October 4th, take in a full day of local food, networking and learning. Join us for speakers and panel presentations highlighting best practices from practitioners in Wellington County and beyond.

Topics include:

  • Revitalizing Rural Economic DevelopmentIMG_3754.JPG
  • How Municipalities Are Supporting Agriculture and Local Food
  • Welcoming Newcomers to Rural Communities
  • Planning + Economic Development: Tips for a Successful Journey
  • Legalizing Cannabis and Emerging Opportunities

This is an opportunity for those involved in municipal and local economic development or planning that have agriculture and food in their portfolio to network, share success and collaborate within the sector.

Register today!  Please visit the event website at www.wellington.ca/agforum.

Economic Development

6 Reasons Why Your Community Should Undertake a BR+E Project

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The most important thing a Business Retention & Expansion (BR+E) project does is build capacity. BR+E is strategically designed to take existing community resources and employ’s its community businesses to help them come together with a plan for the future. 1

Whether you are an economic developer, a chamber of commerce, a local government official, or an interested citizen who wants to improve and ensure economic growth in your area, a BR+E project may be right for you.2 Continue reading 6 Reasons Why Your Community Should Undertake a BR+E Project →

Economic Development

Teeny Tiny Summit with a Great Big Reach

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The 7th Teeny Tiny Summit attracted its largest audience ever when the Municipality of Tweed hosted the summit earlier this summer. The first Teeny Tiny Summit was held in 2015, as the OMAFRAs East Region Economic Development staff wanted to support their smallest communities. These communities had several features in common…they were typically small, rural, with limited staff and resources, and little or no perceived economic development capacity and activity.

This year’s theme was ‘Creating our Future, Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary’ and was supported by the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) and the North and Central Hastings Community Futures Development Corporation. This year’s event covered four key topics that aimed to inspire others. Speakers shared their real-life examples of community volunteer involvement, strategic planning, telling personal stories and the importance of municipal-volunteer relationships. Continue reading Teeny Tiny Summit with a Great Big Reach →

Agricultural Development

Key takeaways from the Succession Planning Community of Practice

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On August 16, 2018, participants had the opportunity to hear from four presenters about how communities can support the transition of farm businesses during the Agriculture Economic Development and Planning Community of Practice webinar.

Mark Ferguson of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ Business Development Branch began the session with a definition of succession planning. 

Succession planning as a process that occurs over time during which a family plans for the transfer of knowledge, skills, labour, management, control and ownership of the farm business between the founder (retiring) generation and the successor (next) generation.

He went on to share why some producers are not planning for succession  including: Continue reading Key takeaways from the Succession Planning Community of Practice →

Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development

Expanded Digital Main Street Program to Support Ontario Small Businesses

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The Digital Main Street program, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and delivered by the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association (OBIAA), will soon be available across the province to help ‘main street’ businesses become more digital.  The program will be live on August 24, 2018, and as part of Ontario’s Main Street Enhancement Initiative, it will help small businesses improve how they use digital tools and provide them with techniques to become even more successful. Continue reading Expanded Digital Main Street Program to Support Ontario Small Businesses →

Economic Development

Rural Ontario Leaders Award Winner: New Vision Unlimited

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Leaders can impact their community and enhance regional economic development through innovative problem solving and creative solutions. The inaugural Rural Ontario Leaders Awards (ROLA) were given out in February 2018.  Among the winners was New Vision Unlimited. They won the Not-for-Profit category for their leadership and work towards strengthening rural Ontario.

hub1New Vision Unlimited won the Not-for-Profit category for their community HUB office space in Huntsville, Ontario. Continue reading Rural Ontario Leaders Award Winner: New Vision Unlimited →

Economic Development

Teeny Tiny Summit 2018 – Creating our Future – Finding the EXTRAORDINARY in the Ordinary

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Rural Ontario is composed of diverse communities, with varying requirements to support community revitalization. While some places have strong drivers for economic growth and staff resources to support economic development, that is not the case for all communities. If you are one of the latter communities, we invite you to become familiar with welcome Teeny Tiny Places.

The Municipality of Tweed and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs are proud and excited to present the 2018 Teeny Tiny Summit, Creating our Future: Finding the EXTRAORDINARY in the Ordinary, to be held on June 14 at Trudeau Park in Tweed!

Visit www.teenytinysummit.com for more information and to register. Continue reading Teeny Tiny Summit 2018 – Creating our Future – Finding the EXTRAORDINARY in the Ordinary →

Agricultural Development

Apply Now for The Premier’s Award For Agri-Food Innovation Excellence Program

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The Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence program recognizes outstanding agriculture and agri-food related innovators including producers, processors, and agri-food organizations.

The objectives of the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence Program are to:

  • Recognize and encourage innovators in the agri-food sector
  • Foster farm-level innovation
  • Raise awareness about the importance of agri-food innovation and its impact on the Ontario economy

Continue reading Apply Now for The Premier’s Award For Agri-Food Innovation Excellence Program →

Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development

March Downtown Revitalization Online Community of Practice

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Building on the success of the first online Downtown Revitalization Community of Practice (DRCOP) held in November 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) is pleased to launch the second session in the series, to be held on March 29th, 2018, from 10:30am-12:00pm.

What is a Community of Practice? It is an informally structured group that allows practitioners with an interest in economic development or downtown development to promote leading practices, share success stories, and build capabilities for supporting downtown revitalization across the province. Membership is open and attendance at any individual event is optional, as the topics will vary based on interest expressed by the group. Continue reading March Downtown Revitalization Online Community of Practice →

Agricultural Development

Cost-Share Funding Assistance For Organizations

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The Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) is a federal-provincial-territorial initiative that assists with the advancement of Ontario’s agri-food and agri-products sectors, while focusing on key achievements related to economic development, environmental stewardship, and protection and insurance. CAP will be building on the success of Growing Forward 2 (GF2) to create further growth for Ontario’s agri-food and agri-products sectors.

All cost-share funding assistance is merit-based and will support targeted projects in three priority areas, with research and innovation Continue reading Cost-Share Funding Assistance For Organizations →