August 29, 2014
More than 200 delegates working in rural and small town economic development are meeting at the Deerhurst Resort, Huntsville this week at a conference of the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations (OACFDC). The members of the organization represent 61 Community Futures Development Corporations, located in small towns and rural areas across the province.
Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) offer free business counselling and provide loans to entrepreneurs, in addition to working on community economic development projects and local strategic planning. CFDCs in Northern Ontario are funded by Industry Canada through FedNor, while CFDCs in Southern Ontario are funded by FedDev Ontario. They operate as not-for-profit corporations. Decisions are made locally by volunteer Boards of Directors working with managers and staff in each office. Volunteer directors and staff alike will be attending the conference September 3rd to 5th.
OACFDC President Denis Bérubé cites a study undertaken by the Conference Board of Canada, which shows that for every $1 that CFDCs invest in Ontario communities, the local economy experiences a lift of $4.22.
Hosting this year’s conference is Muskoka Futures, a Community Futures Development Corporation. “We are delighted to be working with David Brushey and the staff and board at Muskoka Futures,” says OACFDC Executive Director Diana Jedig. “They have done so much to make us feel welcome and showcase Muskoka.”
In addition to various business topics, there are workshops on engaging and retaining youth in rural communities, tourism and social enterprise. As well, there are two mobile workshops: on Thursday, some delegates will travel to Axiom Audio and The Lake of Bays Brewing Company; and on Friday, they will visit the town of Huntsville to learn about Event & Sport Tourism.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Taking Care of Business” and the opening ceremonies on September 3rd will feature greetings from OACFDC President Denis Bérubé, the Mayor of Huntsville Claude Doughty, and District of Muskoka Chair John Klinck. In addition, there will be two special speakers: Lisa Tomassoni of Fanotech Enviro Inc. will talk about her business’s recovery from flood damage and what part Muskoka Futures played in that, while Mary Storey of the Muskoka Historical Society will provide an interesting look at the past.
The Keynote Speakers will be Dara Howell of Huntsville, a Canadian Freestyle Skiing Olympic Gold Medalist, and Lucas Wilson, an Illusionist and young entrepreneur. Also at the conference, is a plenary session on “Effective Public Relations Planning”.
An “Ignite” session will be held, where five different speakers will present 20 slides each, on unrelated topics, with only 20 seconds per slide to talk about them. Speakers in the Ignite session include:
- Molly Ross, Creative Muskoka and the Innovative Rural Communities: “Igniting Innovation”
- Jennifer Schnier, Township of Georgian Bay: “Internet Sucks!”
- Graham Porter, Thumbprint Education: “Crowd Sourcing the Classroom”
- Matt French, Cranberry Wines: “From Bog to Bottle”
- Denise Deschamps & Carmen DeMarco, FedNor: “French it up!”
The Conference will close on Friday night with an Awards Gala. One CFDC will be honoured for a successful initiative in Community Economic Development, while two businesses will tie for Entrepreneur of the Year. The entrepreneurs have been chosen from several nominees, all successful businesses that received loans and counselling from CFDCs. In addition, the members of the OACFDC voted on a Members’ Choice Award.