Business advisory services to move from PKED to Community Futures Peterborough – Peterborough

A new agency will be tasked with assisting small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs in the Peterborough, Ont., area after the agency currently running the Business Advisory Centre (BAC) folds at the end of the year.

On Monday, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith announced that the provincially funded BAC — currently operated by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) — will now be under Community Futures Peterborough.

PKED earlier this month announced it will dissolve at the end of the year, ending a 25-year partnership to deliver economic development and tourism services to the city and county.

The decision came after both the City of Peterborough and Peterborough County announced intentions to bring the services in-house after its current agreement with PKED ends on Dec. 31. The city’s share of the $2.5-million contract with PKED was just over $1 million.

The BAC is part of the province’s Small Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC) program, offering free services.

“Community Futures Peterborough will be taking over the SBEC program because we want to make sure the community still has access to those resources,” Smith told an audience at a meeting held at the Canadian Canoe Museum.

The province of Ontario allocated more than $230,000 to BAC this year, the bulk of its funding.

However, both Peterborough city and county have agreed to continue to offer the BAC program financial support.

“Wherever there is something that is beneficial that we can work on together, I truly believe that partnerships,” county warden Bonnie Clark said, “whether it’s with the city, community futures, that is important.”

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Peterborough step closer to bringing economic development, tourism in-house

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PKED president and CEO Rhonda Keenan says Community Futures is “well-equipped” to take on the BAC role.

“As the region undergoes substantial changes to the way economic development services will be offered, it is our top priority to ensure that the needs of business are at the forefront,” Keenan stated.

“Community Futures Peterborough is well-equipped to take on this important work, as we have always worked well together, sharing a substantial number of clients and an integrative referral system. We are proud to have had the opportunity to help so many businesses start and grow, and we remain committed to ensuring the continuity of the services we offer as the region’s Small Business Enterprise Centre and will continue to collaborate as CFP takes on this responsibility moving forward.”

Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal says the aim is to still help grow the entrepreneurial community as the region looks for an economic boost.

He cited a study by Toronto Metropolitan University’s Centre for Urban Research and Land Development, which reviewed gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the last few years. The report listed Peterborough last in GDP grown among the census metropolitan areas, he said.

“Peterborough’s economy has lagged behind our peers in Ontario over the last number of years,” he said.

Community Futures Peterborough — launched in 1985 — focuses on supporting small businesses with flexible financing. Funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the not-for-profit organization says it has provided more than $41 million to more than 1,100 small businesses in the area, helping to create 4,100 jobs.

Executive director Devon Girard says former clients of the Business Advisory Centre now make up more than 40 per cent of Community Future Peterborough’s current loan portfolio.

“Prior to now, they would work with our colleagues across the hall at Peterborough Kawartha Economic Development, develop a business plan, and then a lot of those entrepreneurs would bring it to community futures for funding.”

Girard says the organization is excited to continue to offer “expert advisory services” as well as SBEC programs from its office at the Venture North Building at 270 George St. N. in the city’s downtown. Additional staff are expected to be hired.

“We are thrilled entrepreneurs and business owners can access these additional services through our office door in Venture North,” she said.

While supporting entrepreneurship is a piece of the puzzle, Leal says officials also need to be more aggressive to improve the region’s GDP.

“For example, there are American states that Ontario is the number one or number two customer — we happen to think that economic development, the people employed by that agency need to be on the road meeting with those individuals,” he said.

— with files from Germain Ma/Global News Peterborough

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