The Ontario East Economic Development Commission (Ontario East) will receive up to $64,400 from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food & Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) Rural Economic Development (RED) fund to support implementation of a business readiness and investment plan, a lead generation project for foreign direct investment (FDI), online site selection property identification software tools and training for members as we transition to enhancement of virtual capabilities and services.

This funding will enhance Ontario East's collaborative regional investment promotion activities in eastern Ontario and contribute to economic recovery and growth in one of Ontario's most attractive and affordable business locations. For more information on our regional programming and how to get involved with the Regional Marketing Committee, please contact Lucy Medeiros, Ontario East Program Administrator.

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The Women’s Entrepreneurship Pilot Project continues to be a welcomed program for women entrepreneurs among the 5 regional partners. We are currently developing a marketing campaign to create continued awareness and generate interest.

The StrikeUp 2021 Digital Conference for Women Entrepreneurs was held on March 4, 2021. The conference was host to over 3,000+ registrants from Canadian provinces and territories as well as participants from 28 countries.

Visit https://www.strikeup.ca/ to learn more about this great event.

Cornwall, Ontario – The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontairo (FedDev Ontario) is investing $1 million to help SigmaPoint Technologies boost manufacturing capacity, support made-in-Canada production and add new jobs at its Cornwall headquarters.

“Today’s announcement for SigmaPoint demonstrates our government’s commitment to keep businesses thriving and moving forward in the face of this pandemic,” said Kate Young, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development (FedDev Ontario) and Official Languages. “We are doing our part to help our rural manufacturers boost production and strengthen our domestic supply chains, while creating high-quality jobs that will attract unique talent to Cornwall.”

As one of Cornwall’s major employers, this project will help SigmaPoint grow its team to 370 employees by adding 12 high-quality jobs, primarily in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

A new website has been launched to increase access to information for small business owners, and at the same time increase awareness of Small Business COVID Recovery services available to small businesses.

The new website at www.sbcontario.ca includes the launch of a new brand which will unite the 54 existing Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centres across Ontario.

“Business Enterprise Centres are on the ground in communities across Ontario to provide local advice and support to entrepreneurs,” said Candy Pollard, Business Consultant with the Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre. “It is nice to see ongoing investment in our small businesses and the renewed confidence in the networks that support them.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has created immense opportunity and pressures for local food systems. It showed how critical these systems are, as well as exposing weaknesses that make them vulnerable. The goal of these sessions is to explore the hard-won lessons learned from a global pandemic that can help local food businesses and organizations strengthen as a result.

Keynote speaker Dr. Evan Fraser will kick off the series. Dr. Fraser is a professor of geography and the Director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph. A passionate communicator, he has written for the Globe and Mail, the Guardian.com, CNN.com, ForeignAffairs.com, the Walrus and the Ottawa Citizen, and has authored popular non-fiction books about food and food security; most recently Uncertain Harvest, published in 2020.

1:00pm to 3:00pm, Wednesday, March 24th

The COVID-19 global pandemic has disrupted economies around the world and rural Canada is no exception. In this seminar, researchers and practitioners will explore how the pandemic has impacted economic development in rural communities across Canada, share examples of how rural communities have responded to this crisis, and discuss how rural communities can build long-term rural resilience through their responses and plans for recovery.

Ontario East's New Mailing Address

Ontario East Economic Development Commission

623 Fortune Crescent

Suite 100

Kingston ON K7P 0L5