Awards

Community Futures Ontario recognizes Abbey Taylor as the winner of the 2024 Outstanding Youth Entrepreneur Award. The former student and agricultural intern at the Elgin Business Resource Centre launched Dawn Farm in 2021 in the middle of the pandemic. The seventh-generation family farmer sells grass-finished beef directly from her farm in Belmont, Ontario.

After winning the Helen LeFrank Entrepreneurship Student Scholarship in 2019, Abbey earned her diploma in agriculture from Ridgetown College. She then enhanced her knowledge by working at a series of farms across Canada during a five-month period to gain business experience. Having found happiness and success as a young entrepreneur, Abbey readily shares her story with youth, encouraging all, especially women, about the many opportunities that are available in the agricultural sector.

Congratulations to Dawn Farm and to Elgin Business Resource Centre for nominating her!

Penokean Hills Farms

Entrepreneur of the Year

Community Futures Ontario recognizes Penokean Hills Farms as the 2024 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The Bruce Mines, Ontario company operates a state-of-the-art abattoir where it produces beef and pork products that it markets to restaurants, butcher shops and retail locations throughout Ontario. To ensure a constant supply of quality cattle and market hogs to keep the abattoir sustainable, Penokean Hills Farm established a value chain, the only one of its kind in Ontario. Penokean Hills Farms works with farmers from the Algoma, Sudbury, Manitoulin, New Liskeard and Cochrane regions who sell cattle and/or crops into the program. It is designed to benefit all who are involved in the process from crop farming and cattle producing to wholesale buying and retail. Through its value chain, Penokean Hills Farms delivers a consistent, all-natural quality product while remaining good stewards of the land and animal.

Congratulations to Penokean Hills Farms and East Algoma Community Futures Development Corporation for nominating them!

Atikokan EDC

Excellence in Community Economic Development

Community Futures Ontario recognizes the Ukrainian Refugee Support project as the 2024 Award of Excellence for Community Economic Development. The initiative began in January 2022 to address a labour shortage at the Resolute Forest Products mill in Atikokan, Ontario. Atikokan Economic Development Corporation, one of 60 Community Futures Development Corporations in the province, worked in partnership with the company, helping it in its efforts to find interim accommodations for Ukrainian refugees within in the community.

To date, more than 100 Ukrainian refugees have settled Atikokan. The influx has increased the community’s population by 5 percent and enabled the company’s sawmill to double the number of its shifts. With Atikokan Economic Development Corporation’s help, Resolute Forest Products converted an empty hotel into living quarters for the newcomers, equipped with laundry and gym facilities. The refugee project is helping to revitalize the community and open the door to growth opportunities while assisting with a humanitarian crisis.

Atikokan Economic Development Corporation offers free business counselling, loans for start-up and expansion of small business, strategic planning on local projects and community economic development in rural areas.

Congratulations to Atikokan Economic Development Corporation and Resolute Forest Products, for the success of the Ukrainian Refugee Support Program!

In 2023, Community Futures Ontario presented four awards:

Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Outstanding Youth Entrepreneur Award
Award of Excellence for Community Economic Development (CED)
Members’ Choice Award - The Members’ Choice Award combines nominees of all categories and is voted on by our members and the communities of the nominees.

2023 Award Recipients

Angels Childcare

Entrepreneur of the Year Winner

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Community Futures Ontario recognizes Angels Childcare as Entrepreneur of the Year.

Angels Childcare, co-owned by Mostafa Heikal and Noura Elbeialy, has four locations across Middlesex and Lambton Counties – Arva, Komoka, Thorndale, Sarnia.

Angels Childcare opened their first location in December of 2019, offering 60 childcare spots and employing 20 people. The location created access to childcare outside of large urban centers where childcare spaces are limited. During the onset of the global pandemic, Angels Childcare closed, then re-opened and scaled up to address the childcare needs of essential workers. Since 2019, three more locations have opened, offering 248 childcare spots and employing 60 full time people and 15 part-time people.

Congratulations to Angels Childcare and to Community Futures Middlesex for nominating them!

Spectrum Gymnastics

Outstanding Youth Entrepreneur Winner

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Community Futures Ontario recognizes Spectrum Gymnastics as Outstanding Youth Entrepreneur.

Spectrum Gymnastics, owned by Teagan Fitch, was registered in September of 2019 as a sole proprietorship to create recreational programming and gymnastic classes for all active children but specializing in programming dedicated to those with special needs. Within its first year of operations, Spectrum Gymnastics acquired 400 clients from the surrounding community and beyond. Spectrum Gymnastics has a team of 16, each personally trained by Fitch.

Fitch is a Youth Entrepreneur (identified as under the age of 30), and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies with a Minor in Child and Youth Studies along with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Autism and Behavioural Science.

Congratulations to Spectrum Gymnastics and to Venture Norfolk for nominating them!

BizLink – Buyers. Sellers. Connected

Community Economic Development Project Award Winner

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Community Futures Ontario recognizes the BizLink Program as the Community Economic Development (CED) Project of the year.

BizLink, a regional Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) program, connects new entrepreneurs with retiring business owners and supports them through successful business transitions, simultaneously developing successful entrepreneurs who create employment, maintain valuable goods and service offerings, and contribute to local economies. With proven knowledge and tools, the program confidentially and anonymously guides entrepreneurs through the full transition process and provides wrap-around support for the entire life cycle of a business. To date, the program has assisted with 79 successful business transitions, and trained and developed 1,187 people through coaching and workshop attendance.

The program was created and is administered by Orillia Area CDC, Nottawasaga Futures, Community Futures South Georgian Bay, and North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation.

Congratulations to the program administrators for the success of the BizLink Program!

Local Initiatives Program

Members’ Choice Award Winner

From left: Patrick Kennedy (Board Chair), Patti Tallman (Executive Director), Heather Reid (Program & Operations Coordinator), all of Haliburton CDC

Community Futures Ontario recognizes the Local Initiatives Program as the winner of the prestigious Members’ Choice Award.

The Local Initiatives Program (LIP) was created and is administered by the Haliburton County Development Corporation (HCDC), and provides funding and advisory services to Not-for-Profit Organizations in Haliburton County. The purpose of the LIP is to strengthen Haliburton County communities by supporting community economic development projects that are incremental (new initiatives or enhancements/additions to existing activities) and strive to enhance the resiliency and vibrancy of the community.

HCDC has supported 150 community projects involving over 450 partners and organizations.

Congratulations to Haliburton County Development Corporation for the success of the Local Initiatives Program!

About Us

Community Futures Ontario represents 60 Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) - 36 in southern Ontario and 24 in the north - that offer free business counselling, loans for start-up and expansion of small business, strategic planning on local projects and community economic development in rural areas.

Contact Us

Community Futures Ontario
300 South Edgeware Road
St. Thomas, Ontario N5P 4L1
Telephone: 519-633-2326
Toll Free to CF Ontario: 1-888-633-2326
Toll Free to Local CFDCs: 1-866-ONT-CFDC
Email: info@cfontario.ca