| Jul 17, 2014


There are two focus points for funding from the Eastern Ontario Development Plan, a federal granting program that is administered locally by the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (FCFDC), which is based in Harrowsmith.

The first is job creation and the second is enhanced sales and profitability for businesses that receive funding support.

Anne Prichard, executive director of the FCFDC, has been waiting for several months for detailed information about how the program is going to work over the next four and a half years. Some of the changes were known to her but some have come as a surprise.

One thing that we knew was that from now on businesses and not-for-profit corporations will be on a level playing field. The program will only pay 50% of the costs of a project. Previously not-for-profits could receive 80% or even 100% funding but that is no longer happening,” she said.

It is acceptable for recipients to stack funds, that is to say, to use other grants as their share of the 50% they need for EODP-funded projects, but those other grants cannot come from a federal program.

For not-for-profits in Frontenac County, the 50% rule can be a barrier, because the funding they receive is generally tied directly to their core mission,” said Prichard.

Another aspect of the new program is that a single entity, be it a business, not-for-profit, municipal government or post-secondary institution, can only apply for $100,000 in funding over the life of the plan, when in the past they could apply for up to $100,000 per project.

This has affected at least two larger long-term projects we were working on,” said Prichard.

Also, whereas the EODP funded internships in the past, it will no longer do so.

We can fund skills training in specific cases, either a course or a specified training period, in some cases, but internships will now need to be funded from other sources, such as employment services agencies,” said Prichard.

EODP dollars were also used to fund basic websites for local businesses in the past, but now only website upgrades, such as bringing online payment on stream, for example, will be eligible.

Payments will also be results-based, more so than in the past.

We will be looking favourably at projects that can demonstrate they will either be creating new jobs, saving jobs that would be at risk of being lost if the project did not happen, or creating new sales or new profits for the business undertaking them.” she said.

All of the details about the new version of the program, as well as application forms, are now available at the Frontenac CFDC website.

The agency staff is also available to provide detailed answers to questions about the funding program, and other programs that are available.

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