Category: Economic Development
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Local Food ‘Destination Quinte Region’ Tour a Hit
The recently held 5th annual Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference ‘Destination Quinte Region’ tour was hit with delegates. There were six delicious stops on the tour, highlighting some of the region’s local food diversity and success stories, and providing a closer view of their operations. The first stop included a tour and delicious sampling of…
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10 takeaways from EDAC 2015 in Whitehorse
Economic Development happens in a complex and highly competitive environment. When you’re competing for investment, labour, and other resources with literally every other municipality across the globe it can be hard to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Especially, if you’re a small rural community. The 2015 Economic Development Association of Canada (EDAC) annual conference…
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Population changes in Rural Ontario
According to a recent factsheet prepared by the Rural Ontario Institute entitled “Change in non-metro population 2014” less than half of the rural counties in Ontario had population increases over the last three years. Over the same period, however, all urban counties experienced population increases. Ray Bollman the author of the factsheet highlights the long…
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New $6M Investment in Local Food
The Ontario government is providing $6 million over three years to increase sales of local food by making it more widely available and building awareness of the variety of food grown and produced in Ontario. This funding is not restricted to the Greenbelt, and is available to organizations across Ontario. The funds will be administered…
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3 Ways Data can Support Economic Development
As I stated in my last blog post “Effective Economic Development Requires Data”, data is critical to understanding the local and regional economy. Expanding on that point, there are three main areas where data supports economic development. Use data to inform economic development strategies Data can help identify a region’s most important economic assets and…
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Outputs are good….outcomes are great! Improving performance measurement in economic development organizations
Performance measurement is the collection and analysis of data and the reporting of the data results. Performance measurement helps organizations assess the progress their initiatives are making towards desired results. The results can include both outputs (what products or services an organization delivers) and outcomes (the resulting change that occurs as a result of a…
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Rural Economic Development Program Opens for New Applications
Ontario is providing rural communities, businesses and organizations, with funding to help attract investment, create jobs, and boost tourism, through a renewed Rural Economic Development (RED) program. The renewed program will now have two streams for applications: a Community Development Stream and a Business Development Stream. For projects to qualify under either stream, applicants must…
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Huron County wide Economic Development Strategic Planning Pilot Project
An exciting new pilot project is underway in Huron County. The ten municipal partners in Huron are developing economic development strategic plans using a different approach than the traditional one used in the past. Each municipality has selected a Core Team of five people each to lead the process.
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Overview of the First Impression Community Exchange Program
A First Impressions Community Exchange (FICE) is a structured and cost-effective process that reveals the first impression a community conveys to potential visitors, investors and new residents. The results can serve as the basis for action plans to enhance or build on community strengths and address challenges.
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Ontario East Municipal Conference Presentation – What’s new with BR+E
A presentation given at the 2015 Ontario East Municipal Conference on the Business Retention and Expansion, which includes a summary of BR+E project results for Eastern Ontario 2011-2015.