Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall
Cash for entrepreneurs
According to Canada Business patterns data release (Dec. 2016) there are 10,198 businesses registered in Chatham Kent; 7158 of those businesses report “0 employees”. Self-employment is growing at twice the rate of paid employment in Canada right now, and this micro funding program will help entrepreneurs bring their businesses to Chatham-Kent.
In 2014, the Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board, with special funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, commissioned a research feasibility study that found there was a need for a micro-lending program in our community. A pilot program launched in the fall of 2015 with very limited success. The working group has realigned the program and is bringing a more simplified application and more support to the process.
Community partners including Employment and Social Services, Prosperity Round Table; United Way; Small Business Centre; Chatham Chamber of Commerce; Community Futures Development Corporation; Main Street Credit Union; and the Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board have reworked the framework to create a micro-lending program that will work for Chatham-Kent entrepreneurs
This program will assist local entrepreneurs (those living in Chatham-Kent) who need a small amount of money to get their businesses up and running, and who may not qualify for products through traditional lending sources. Qualified applicants can request a low interest loan of up to $5,000.00.
Contact CKWorkforce@chatham-kent.ca (or call 519.436.3299) to set up your personal appointment to meet with one of our staff and learn more about the program and complete an application.
CKWPB is committed to ongoing research to enhance local labour market planning in the Chatham-Kent region.
To learn more about the Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board and its activities in Chatham-Kent, please visit our website at ckworkforcedev.com.
Truck and trailer donated to Plowing Match committee
It was a big day for the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo 2018 on Wednesday as the committee got a huge boost as three local businesses and a local farm family make a major contribution.
Victory Ford donated a brand new Ford F150 for 2 years to help the 2018 committee transport the souvenir trailer and to attend local and provincial events. Expect to see it in parades and community events as we move toward the 2018 match.
“We definitely saw the significance of supporting this very important event,” says Adam Lally of Victory Ford Lincoln. “To have roughly a hundred thousand people coming to Chatham-Kent is a really unique opportunity to showcase our community to the entire province.”
Badder Bus Lines, a Platinum sponsor of the event, has donated the use of a signature coach for transport, and has worked with Impact Graphics to wrap the entire coach with promotional graphics. The family of Leon & Colette Leclair of Chatham-Kent, has donated the souvenir trailer. The donations and in-kind sponsorship from the three companies and the Leclair family total close to $90,000.
“The outpouring of support from the community has been simply awesome,” said Darrin Canniff, Co-Chair of the 2018 Executive Committee. “We will be thanking some of our sponsors who have donated a few of the eye-catching vehicles that will be seen in town, and we are absolutely thrilled with all the support the community has been giving both financially and in the form of local volunteers.”
The International Plowing Match and Rural Expo will be held in Paincourt, Chatham-Kent Ontario, September 18-22 2018. To become a sponsor, to volunteer, or to find more information on the 2018 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo visit www.plowingmatch.org/ipm2018.
If you have a suggestion, story idea, column idea, or if you want to say hello… drop me an e-mail at aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca.
Photo of the day
Hunters and anglers from all over Southwestern Ontario are returning to Tilbury for the biggest hunting and fishing show this side of Toronto.
Now in its 13th year, the Southwest Outdoors Club’s Big Buck Sportsmen’s Show is expected to draw close to 2,000 outdoors enthusiasts on Saturday, April 22nd. Sponsored this year by The Tilbury Auto Mall, and held at the Tilbury Arena, hunters can bring deer and moose racks, bear skulls and turkey beards to be measured and scored by the Foundation for the Recognition of Ontario Wildlife (FROW). Scoring is overseen by the Beasley Brothers of “Canada In The Rough”, a popular and award-winning hunting show carried on seven Canadian and one US Network, and other official scorers from FROW.
As well, more than 65 vendors fill the arena floor selling hunting and fishing equipment and apparel. There is also an indoor archery shoot for kids, and trout fishing pond set up just outside Ryder Hall, sponsored by Liquiforce No-Dig Pipelines.
New this year will be a small turkey calling competition, the details of which are still being finalized. A new series of hunting and fishing seminars is also being offered.
“We try to bring something new and interesting to the show each year,” said SWOC president Dan Reive. “This year it’s the turkey calling and new seminar format. We also have several new vendors, raffles, and loads of great door prizes to give away.”
Admission to the show is $5, and kids 12 years old and under get in free. More than $2,500 worth of door prizes will be given away at hourly draws held throughout the day, from 10 am until 5 pm. There is also a raffle being drawn at 3 pm for a $10,000 Suzuki King Quad 500EPS ATV. Tickets on are still available now for $50 each and can be purchased from club members. Only 400 will be sold. See the group’s website or Facebook page for specific contact information.
Trophies are presented at day’s end to those with the largest entries in each of the categories measured by FROW. Anyone who wants to have their racks, skulls or beards scored needs to have them at the arena and registered before 1 pm.
There is also a cash bar, and food is available throughout the day at the arena canteen.
“The feedback from those who attend the show is always very positive. Those who have come in the past always seem quite excited to return,” Reive added. “The club puts a lot of work into organizing this event, and it pays off. People have a good time and we raise the funds needed to support some of the many projects we do.”
With more than 130 members from across Chatham-Kent and Essex County, the SWOC is a group who share an interest in the environment, conservation, and outdoor heritage, which includes hunting and fishing. As well as hosting the annual Big Buck Sportsmen’s show, the club supports a wide array of projects and events such as Youth Outdoor and Safety Education, an annual Kids Fishing Derby and the Big Boyz Fishing Tournament. They also do tree planting, fish stocking, habitat creation as well as supervised youth hunts and a variety of other outdoor-related activities. Meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month at the Wheatley Legion at 7 pm.
“We have a diverse membership, including several women and families,” Reive said. “Our show reflects that. There’s something there for everyone, and the kids always seem to have a really great time.”
For more information and updates on the April 22nd show, you can follow SWOC on Facebook or visit their website at www.swoc.ca.
Weather forecast for Thursday, April 20, 2017
Today – Cloudy. Periods of rain ending this morning then 60 percent chance of drizzle late this morning and this afternoon. Showers or thunderstorms beginning late this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm this morning. Wind northeast 20 km/h becoming southeast 20 late this morning then southwest 30 this afternoon. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate.
Tonight – Showers or thunderstorms ending this evening then partly cloudy. Wind southwest 30 km/h. Low 7.
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