GORE BAY—The federal government has announced an investment of close to $1 million to the LaCloche Manitoulin Business Assistance Corporation (LAMBAC) to continue to deliver the successful Northern Ontario Women (NOW) program across Northern Ontario. The announcement was made at Split Rail Brewery in Gore Bay, which is owned and operated by Andrea Smith and Eleanor Charlton, who have benefitted from the funding program.
“One of the businesses we have received feedback on the program, pertains to where we find ourselves today, here at Split Rail Brewing, which is a 100 percent women-owned company launched by entrepreneurs Andrea Smith and Eleanor Charlton in 2015,” said Susan Whynott, NOW program coordinator. She read feedback from the two entrepreneurs which states, “being approved for NOW funding allowed us to provide important training for all our staff on beer production, testing and service from a nationally-recognized trainer. This training has been very valuable for our staff, and we would not have been able to obtain this important training without the NOW program and FedNor believing in us.”
Ms. Whynott pointed out, “Split Rail Brewing has also been awarded an HRdownloads subscription, as have many other Northern Ontario women-led businesses. These subscriptions are paid for by the NOW Program and they give business owners the tools they need to complete a myriad of human resource tasks, thereby letting entrepreneurs get back to doing what they love.”
Carolyn Campbell, executive director of LAMBAC introduced Marc G. Serre, member of parliament for Nickel Belt and parliamentary secretary to the minister of energy and natural resources and to the minister of official languages. “It is my honour and privilege to introduce to you a dedicated public servant, a passionate advocate for our community and a leader committed to making a difference, MP Marc Serre.”
“It is a great honour and opportunity for me to be here, to see and hear about the work being done here, and all the work LAMBAC has done over the past 35-36 years and the work Susan Whynott has been doing in helping more women realize their dreams of being a business entrepreneur,”
said MP Serre, noting that Arik Theijsmeijer, manager of North Central Program Delivery with FedNor for the past 18 years, helped to see this initiative come together.
MP Serre said statistics show that businesses that have more women board of governors are more profitable, more attractive and that they see more growth. “That’s what is happening on Manitoulin Island and area. That is also why the federal government needs to play a role in all of this. The government needs to play a role in supporting women and be there. This is the reason I am here today to announce funding of $999,620 to LAMBAC to continue the NOW program across Northern Ontario.”
The NOW program provides a maximum of $5,000 to women-owned and women-led small businesses to help cover the cost of professional and training services so they can start-up or take their businesses to the next level. The goal of this pan-Northern project is to address challenges facing women entrepreneurs, particularly filling a gap in rural areas where services and training are not offered or affordable on an individual basis. Led by LAMBAC, NOW is supported by all 24 of Northern Ontario’s Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDC’s) who help promote the program and deliver local training events in their service area. This priority project is expected to support over 110 businesses and help create 145 full-time jobs in Northern Ontario.
Since 2019, NOW has supported close to 400 women-owned and led businesses, which led to the expansion and modernization of more than 260 and helped create over 300 full-time jobs in Northern Ontario.
“Congratulations as well to FedNor, which last fall, provided $1.6 million in funding to LAMBAC to continue their great work. Thank you all for being here today,” said MP Serre. “Thank you so much for the work you are doing in the community and continue working with our most vulnerable portion of the population.”
“Thank you for your dedication in supporting Women in Business in Northern Ontario,” said Ms. Campbell. “This funding will allow LAMBAC to provide grants of up to $5,000 to women entrepreneurs, with a target of 150 businesses being supported, for the eligible costs of professional fees or external business management training. Common examples of projects supported include improving financial tracking and monitoring with the help of an accountant; utilizing marketing agencies to develop strategies of branding and accessing new markets; using information technology consultants to adopt digital applications and increase e-commerce investigating corporate governance improvements with the help of a lawyer; or translating marketing materials into the other official language to reach new markets; prioritizing businesses who export outside of Northern Ontario, those working with the federal economic strategy table sectors.”
“I would like to also thank FedNor and the staff that have worked hard in ensuring the success of this program from the beginning, Arik Theijsmeijer, manager North Central Program Delivery was instrumental in seeing this project come to life and we are excited to have both Arik and our new Initiatives Officer Jonathon Nadeau with us today,” said Ms. Campbell.
Ms. Campbell explained, “The Community Futures organization has 25 offices serving northern Ontario and are partners in delivering this program. Our next speaker has worked on the NOW program since the funding started in 2019 and has been a key player in the success of the delivery. I am proud to introduce Susan Whynott our NOW Program Coordinator who will share some success stories that we have received from our women entrepreneurs.”
“It is my great pleasure to have been asked to share some highlights and feedback from a few of our many grateful Northern Ontario women grant recipients who are operating businesses all throughout this amazing 800,000 square kilometre region known as Northern Ontario,” said Ms. Whynott. “The NOW program was Carolyn’s brainchild—she initiated the program,” she added, noting that since 2019 over 400 women have benefitted from the program.
Leslie-Ann in Schumacher said, “The NOW program helped us begin exploring the development of a new service for our community which stands to benefit not only our business, but create jobs for others and boost our local economy. The NOW program created an opportunity for our business to grow, and the consultant we hired also gained valuable hands-on experience through the process that will help her continue to grow her business and better serve her clients. As a new business, the timing of the grant gave us a terrific head start into generating cash flow sooner than we would have been able to without the grant. The process itself was simple and easy to understand. We applaud the government of Canada and FedNor for recognizing the value and potential of Northern Ontario women.”
Jenny in Thunder Bay said, ‘It was a true blessing to receive support for NOW to incorporate my business. As a new business owner, I was unsure of how to pay for something so important. NOW has allowed me to change the way I operate. I am more comfortable in my day-to-day operations and am also more protected. I wouldn’t have been able to do this as quickly if it wasn’t for the support from NOW,” Ms. Whynott read.
“With the continued support of FedNor the NOW program will continue to support women owned and women-led businesses throughout Northern Ontario,” said Ms. Whynott.
“Thank you, Susan, for sharing your success stories and for your dedication to helping women entrepreneurs across Northern Ontario,” said Ms. Campbell.
