Ontario East is seeking nominations to recognize an economic development practitioner in Eastern Ontario as the Economic Developer of the Year during the Ontario East Municipal Conference (OEMC) to be held on October 20 & 21, 2021.

Nominations are open to all Active and Associate members of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission. If you wish to nominate an individual, please complete the following Nomination Form, and submit to Ontario East by the deadline of 4:00 p.m. Friday, August 27th, 2021. 

Support OEMC and take advantage of the many opportunities to access OEEDC Members and OEMC attendees, including the opportunity to be featured in a Virtual Exhibit Showcase to highlight products and services, and the opportunity to present a session at the conference and afterwards.

KINGSTON (ON) - Finding the best location for your business in eastern Ontario is now much easier to do, thanks to the Ontario East Economic Development Commission's powerful new mapping tool.

The user-friendly interactive tool combines robust location, demographic, business, and economic data to serve as a primary resource for business recruitment, expansion, and retention. It is powered by GIS Planning's industry-leading ZoomProspector software.

“This tool will help us ensure that our member's prime available employment properties can be discovered and explored by both new businesses seeking an Ontario East location or an existing one looking to expand,” said Chris King, CEO, Quinte Economic Development Commission and President, Ontario East Economic Development Commission Board of Directors, noting also “this addition to our investment attraction toolbox greatly enhances our member communities ability to showcase the opportunities and advantages of eastern Ontario as a strategic business location.”

This new web resource is not just a searchable properties database - it's also an intuitive, robust location analysis tool. The Ontario East Economic Development Commission, along with local communities, businesses, listing agents and other community stakeholders can take advantage of this user-friendly building and sites database to promote available properties in the region while also featuring key data on variables such as consumer spending, labour force and demographics.

The OE-TISP OLMP has rounded up resources for employers to help them find recruitment help. Send employers to this landing page here to help companies find the talent they need.

As we enter the last year of the Women's Entrepreneurship Pilot Program, we are pleased to announce that as of June 30, 2021 we have enrolled 142 women across five pilot municipalities. Our target is 200 new business starts by the end of March 2022.

The project has also assisted 42 existing women-owned businesses in the pilot regions.

Our marketing campaign continues to create awareness through digital radio ads and Facebook content and the Ontario East website has a dedicated WEP page facilitating our marketing efforts for information and enrollment.

The SparkSLC team (St. Lawrence College) is currently working with our existing WEP participants on digital marketing support in the form of an assessment. It focuses on reviewing their online presence and making suggestions for improvement. A survey response rate of the participants that have completed the assessment resulted in a satisfaction score of 98%. Collectively, those surveyed responded that all WEP participants should take advantage of this marketing tool when asked how likely they would be to recommend this service to fellow entrepreneurs within the Ontario East Women’s Entrepreneurship Program.

Frulact, a fruit processing plant located in Cataraqui Estates Business Park in Kingston’s west end, is expanding and looking to hire more Kingstonians to support their growing industry.

Despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the global company has continued to increase their production in response to new acquisitions.

“This expansion plan is part of our strategic vision for Frulact in North America. Our growth, based on our customers’ trust, required that we had to expand and invest in other assets. Last year, Frulact reinforced its relevance in the North American market by acquiring the fruit preparations for dairy applications of Sensient Technologies Corporation,” said Paulo Leal, Chief Marketing Officer for Frulact. “We are moving towards the ambition of becoming a global leader in natural ingredients solutions.”

In March 2020, tourism came to a screeching halt as public safety measures kept most Canadians home and international borders closed. Now that vaccination efforts are paying off and declining case rates are allowing the easing of restrictions, tourism businesses and organizations from coast to coast to coast can look to the future.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Government of Canada has provided over $15.4 billion in direct supports to the tourism sector. Budget 2021 committed an additional $1 billion to help the tourism sector prepare to welcome domestic travelers and reposition Canada as a world-class destination.

Today, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, launched $500-million in funding for the new Tourism Relief Fund. Eligible organizations can now submit applications to support the tourism sector prepare to welcome back domestic travelers and reposition Canada as a world-class destination.

The Jobs and Growth Fund (JGF) provides assistance to help create jobs and position local economies for long-term growth. Valued at $700 million nationally over three years, JGF is being delivered by Canada’s regional development agencies (RDAs) to help job creators to future-proof, build resiliency and prepare for growth by adopting clean technology, increasing diversity, implementing new digital technologies and strengthening capacity in critical sectors. This includes up to $70 million in funding dedicated to supporting businesses created after January 2020 that meet eligibility criteria.

In southern Ontario, FedDev Ontario is delivering $224 million in JGF funding.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED.

Ontario East's New Mailing Address

Ontario East Economic Development Commission

623 Fortune Crescent

Suite 100

Kingston ON K7P 0L5