StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Darling Insurance, PKA SoftTouch, Launch Kawartha and Junior Achievement

PTBOCanada is delighted to be running StoosNews columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…

Darling Insurance Realty Limited owner Peter Blodgett recently announced five new partners to the ownership of the company.

The young group of partners is made up of Darling Insurance employees: Kyle Bowden, Julie Kellett, Greg Melanson, Julie Poff and Angie White. Established in 1928, Blodgett remains as the Principal Broker while mentoring the partners in the day-to-day operations of the brokerage. Darling Insurance has offices in Peterborough, Omemee and Lakefield, with affiliated offices associated to Sentinel Risk Insurance Group Limited in 6 other areas of southern Ontario.

Congratulations to PKA SoftTouch, the local company owned by Dr. Pankaj Modi and Dick Crawford.

PKA SoftTouch has invented a new Micro-needle that delivers medication with a shallow delivery process with no pain, easy use and no sharp disposal. The Micro-needle has now concluded its veterinary clinical trials at the University of Guelph which showed the technology significantly outperforming the traditional syringe injection. The next step is to explore options for licensing deals.

Launch Kawartha is a dynamic innovation and entrepreneurship centre housing business partners and service providers in the heart of downtown Lindsay.

Opening soon, Launch Kawartha will provide free services and fully furnished incubation workspaces for up to twenty new entrepreneurs. The partners and service providers within the space offer businesses direct access to government funding, finance, marketing and digital media, accounting, legal, IP and the latest in mental health and wellness services, on demand and in real-time. Designed by Kawartha Lakes CFDC, and internally funded by the Kawartha Lakes Business Community Development Corporation, for details visit klcfdc.com/launch-kawartha.

And speaking of CKL, Junior Achievement Northern and Eastern Ontario are bringing their annual Business Hall of Fame event to the City of Kawartha Lakes.

Nominations are now open for the inaugural event with a deadline of Nov. 26, Successful nominees will be announced in January, with a formal induction ceremony in the Spring of next year. For details and nomination forms visit ja-neo.org.

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Nominations Open For the 2023 Business Hall of Fame JA-NEO Awards

Nominations are now open for the annual Junior Achievement of Northern and Eastern (JA-NEO) 2023 Business Hall of Fame (BHF) in the City of Kawartha Lakes.

Photo courtesy of JA Northern and Eastern Ontario.

The community is invited to submit nominations for the Business Hall of Fame, helping to recognize the City of Kawartha Lakes’ business leaders who have strengthened the economy and community through their business.

JA-NEO has recently expanded outside of Peterborough and into the City of Kawartha Lakes.

After the nominations come in, candidates are submitted to Junior Achievement of Northern and Eastern Ontario, and then presented to an independent selection committee.

“JA-NEO is looking to honour individuals who, through their careers, have made a positive and everlasting impact on the community and the local business landscape,” said John McNutt, president and CEO of JA-NEO. “By recognizing and celebrating those who make an impact today, we are helping to inspire youth who will be our community’s leaders of tomorrow. JA-NEO is excited to expand our Business Hall of Fame outside of Peterborough and what better place than the City of Kawartha Lakes.”

The nominations window closes on Nov. 26 at 3 p.m.

Successful nominees will be announced in January 2023, and will be officially inducted into the JA BHF on May 25, 2023.

Nomination forms can be found online at https://ja-neo.org/kawartha-lakes-ja-business-hall-of-fame/.

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Voice of Business: Business Supports Help Our Region Recover Together

As our economy shifts into recovery mode so have the funding lifelines.

We’ve moved from emergency funding to get through shutdowns to investing in what our businesses need to deal with current challenges and position them for the future.

Here is a brief rundown of some of the programs available:

Talent Opportunities Program (Up to $7,000)

Are you an employer hiring post-secondary students on work-integrated learning (WIL) placements, such as cooperative education and internships? If so, you may be eligible for a wage subsidy of up to $7,000 per student!

The Talent Opportunities Program (TOP) is an initiative of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce designed to help employers located anywhere in Canada hire college and university students on WIL placements. Employers hiring eligible students may receive a wage subsidy up to 50% of the wages (to a maximum of $5,000) for each ‘net new’ placement or 70% of the wages (to a maximum of $7,000) for each ‘net new’ placement for the following under-represented groups: Indigenous people, person with disabilities, newcomer to Canada, first year student, visible minority and/or women in STEM.

https://occ.ca/talent-opportunities-program/

Grow Your Business Online Grant (Up to $2,400)

As part of the Canada Digital Adoption Program, the Government of Canada has partnered with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to deliver the Grow Your Business Online grant.

Through this program, small business owners can receive a micro-grant worth up to $2,400 to help get their business online, give their e-commerce presence a boost, or digitalize business operations. Grant recipients must commit to maintaining their digital adoption strategy for at least six months.

https://occ.ca/growyourbusinessonline/

Boost Your Business Technology (Up to $15,000 + 0% loan)

Eligible businesses can leverage the grant to pay for the services of a digital advisor. These advisors will work with companies to recommend digital pathways and strategies that will help them achieve their business goals and increase their competitiveness in the digital economy.

The grant covers up to 90% of the eligible cost of retaining the services of a digital advisor, up to a maximum grant value of $15,000 per SME, to develop a digital adoption plan.

Businesses also have the opportunity to secure a 0% interest loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to facilitate the acquisition of new technology. In addition, applicants can leverage the help of talented post-secondary students and recent graduates through subsidized work placements.

https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/canada-digital-adoption-program/en/boost-your-business-technology

Canada-Ontario Job Grant (Up to $10,000)

The Canada-Ontario Job Grant provides direct financial support to individual employers or employer consortia who wish to purchase training for their employees. It is available to small, medium and large businesses with a plan to deliver short-term training to existing and new employees.

Businesses can get some assistance from local employment organizations.

https://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/eopg/cojg/

Digital Main Street (Up to $2,500 + free training)

Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce has partnered with acorn30 to provide local businesses with a Digital Main Street Digital Service Squad. Squad members are available for free one-on-one assistance to small businesses to assess their digital needs and create plans to meet digital goals. The squad can also help businesses apply for a $2,500 Digital Transformation Grant to put toward digital marketing, website work, software, training, and hardware.

For more info, contact Clarance D'Silva clarance@acorn30.com or visit https://digitalmainstreet.ca/ontariogrants/

Government of Canada Business Benefits Finder

The Government of Canada now has a business benefits finder to help businesses find the right programs and services, whether you’re starting out or scaling up. Enter some details about your business and it will pull up all the available federal programs.

https://innovation.ised-isde.canada.ca/s/?language=en_CA

Available funding opportunities from the Ontario Government

The Government of Ontario has a single-point access page listing current business support programs for various sectors, skills, and workforce investments.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/available-funding-opportunities-ontario-government

Community Futures Peterborough (Micro Loans up to $20,000, Small Business Loans up to $250,000)

Community Futures Peterborough offers a range of supports for small businesses, including counselling, training, and loans.

https://communityfuturespeterborough.ca/financing-services/

This is by no means an exhaustive list. As a Chamber, our role involves helping businesses overcome barriers. Sometimes this involves sorting out bureaucracy and cutting red tape. Other times it involves advocating for funding to help specific sectors get the boost they need to ensure they aren’t being left behind. Our region needs businesses of all sizes and sectors thriving for an effective and efficient economic recovery. 

Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.

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Photos: Peterborough Business Social Club Returns to Full Calendar Year, Celebrating Over 75 Years

The Peterborough Business Social Club (PBSC) celebrated their second event of the Oktoberfest Social at The Social on Wednesday.

2022 marks the return of a full calendar year for the club, celebrating over 75 years of the organization’s inception. PBSC is a networking club of key individuals from local businesses, aimed at developing relationships between their members.

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Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce Honours 19th Annual Business Excellence Awards Recipients

Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce hosted the 19th annual Business Excellence Awards that showcased Peterborough’s local businesses that showcased excellence at the Showplace Performance Centre on Wednesday night.

Matt Strano (pictured) of Charlotte Products Ltd. won Business Citizen of the Year. Photo courtesy of Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.

The 2022 Business Excellence Awards recipients are as follows:

Local Focus

• Living Local Marketplace

Entrepreneurial Spirit

• Organized by Design

Health & Wellness

4-Under-40 Profiles, in memory of Kathy Windrem

• Dr. Nicole Edgar

• Michael Gallant

• Chad Hogan

• Caitlin Smith

Customer First

• Kawartha Country Wines

Tourism

• Lang Pioneer Village Museum

Business Student Leadership Prizes

• Jehan Mahboob (Trent University)

• Aiden Rice (Fleming College)

Marketing & Promotion

• Peterborough Humane Society (Our Pet Project)

The President's Award

• Ashley Lamothe (Creative Kwe)

Micro Business

• The Mane Intent

Skilled Trades

• New Beginnings Contracting Services

Businesswoman of the Year - Entrepreneur

• Brenda Ibey (The Avant-Garden Shop)

Businesswoman of the Year - Organization

• Alicia Dafoe (Village Dental Centre)

Green Initiatives

• The Nutty Bean Café

Professional Services

• Gauvreau Accounting Tax Law Advisory

Hospitality

• The Boardwalk Board Game Lounge

New Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year

• Faheem Mohammadzada (Brothers Pizza)

Commercial Development or Renovation

• Lakeshore Designs (Boathouse Boutique and Bikini Beans Cafe)

Retail

• Millbrook Mercantile

Peterborough County Farm Family of the Year

• The Cornish Family (Indian River Acres)

Not-for-Profit

• Community Care Peterborough

Employer of the Year

• Friendly Fires

Business Citizen of the Year

• Matt Strano (Charlotte Products Ltd.)

In total, more than 50 businesses and individuals were profiled in 23 categories, with recipients announced live on stage.

Watch the full 2022 Business Excellence Awards here.

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Voice of Business: Unemployment Declines As Jobs Increase But the Situation Remains Challenging

Unemployment declines as jobs increase, but the situation remains challenging.

Canada’s employment situation remains fickle.

We’ve added more jobs and the unemployment rate has declined, but people are working fewer hours and the overall labour shortage still sits at more than 1 million unfilled jobs.

According to Canadian Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist Stephen Tapp:

“At first glance, it looked like we finally received good news from Canada’s Labour Force Survey for September: after three months of declines, employment was up by 21,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate dropped back to 5.2 per cent after unexpectedly spiking to 5.4% last month. Digging beneath the headlines, however, shows emerging signs of an underlying “cooling-off” period. First, hours worked are down over 1per cent since June. Second, labour force participation has sagged over the course of this year, and third, it’s the public sector, not the private sector, that continues to push up employment. That said, Canada’s labour market remains historically tight. It remains difficult for businesses to fill the nearly one million vacant positions they’re seeking. And, though, wage growth exceeded 5 per cent for the fourth month in a row, this still isn’t enough to boost workers’ purchasing power, as it’s below the highest rates of inflation seen in a generation.”

Overall, the public sector added 35,000 jobs, compared to 9,000 from the private sector while self-employment dropped by 22,000. The increase in employment is being driven by education and healthcare at 46,000 and 24,000, respectively. This offset declines from manufacturing (-28,000); information, culture and creation (-22,000); transportation and warehousing (-18,000), and public administration (-12,000).

Wage growth is being led by professional services, up 9.1 per cent year-over-year, followed by accommodation and food service at +8.7 per cent over last year. On average, wages are up 5.2 per cent over last year.

Adding further pressure to workforce challenges is the trend toward retirement shows no signs of slowing, with 1 million of the 5.2 million Canadians aged 55 -64 already retired.

Overall, Ontario and PEI are the only provinces seeing a decline in employment.

Locally, jobs in demand largely hit sectors that have struggled heavily over the last two years, especially the service industry. According to the Workforce Development Board, the top 10 local job postings are for:

1. Retail salespersons

2. Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers & related support occupations

3. University professors and lecturers

4. Home support workers, housekeepers & related occupations

5. Other customer & information services representatives

6. Retail & wholesale trade managers

7. Cooks

8. Social and community service workers

9. Post-secondary teaching & research assistants

10. Light duty cleaners

Employment data will continue to fluctuate, as it always has. But it reveals the harsh reality that some sectors are rebounding well while others are going to continue to struggle. Those who regularly had to cut staffing levels due to public health restrictions are struggling to hire enough staff despite being leaders in increasing wages. There is no large pool of workers waiting to return and fill the vacancies across the country. It’s going to take creativity, investment, and vision for local businesses to modernize, automate, and adjust how they operate to make do with less access to labour.

Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.

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Voice of Business: How We Get To Net-Zero Matters

Climate change is a pressing business issue.

We’re dealing with the effects on a regular basis with extreme weather events happening far more frequently than decades ago. Referring to disasters as once-in-a-century events has lost its relevance. Floods, wildfires, wind storms, and hurricanes have shuttered businesses, cut off supply chains, spoiled goods, and taken lives. And we’re paying the insurance premiums to prove it.

All levels of government have pledged some form of commitment toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and tackling the effects of climate change.

The federal government has established its goal of creating net-zero emissions by 2050 with Environment and Climate Change Canada supplementing it with the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. It established the Net-Zero Advisory Body in 2021 as a group of independent experts to provide advice on pathways for Canada to achieve net-zero emissions. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Net-Zero Council is part of this advisory body.

The CCC along with partners at PwC Canada have put together a report titled How We Get There Matters: Establishing a Path to Net-zero in Canada. It has four core principles:

1. The 2030 roadmap must firmly position Canada to achieve its net-zero target for 2050

This means that a key goal of actions taken between now and 2030 should be to enable delivery of the 2050 target, rather than short-term measures that may help deliver on 2030 targets but cannot be leveraged thereafter. These actions may consist of pilot programs, feasibility studies and consultations to position initiatives for major emissions reduction in the coming decades. In the absence of this, we risk our ability to reach our net-zero goal and/or risk needing to resort to extreme measures in later years.

2. Canada’s net-zero plan must be tightly coupled with its economic goals

This will ensure that fulfilling Canada’s commitment to contribute to the global fight against climate change and maintaining/improving our standard of living will not be seen as either/or.

3. Canada’s economic plan and the net-zero transition plan must consider the global context

This consideration is necessary to protect competitiveness of Canadian businesses and avoid carbon leakages to other countries.

4. Canada’s net-zero plan should deliver an orderly and inclusive transition

This is critical to avoid economic crises and energy crises and to ensure the ongoing support of Canadians for Canada’s commitment to net-zero.

Among its key recommendations are that Canada should:

• Increase overall net-zero funding and do more to de-risk and address barriers to private

• sector investment

• Adopt a common definition for what constitutes investment that supports net-zero

• Consider a holistic picture of emissions

• Design policy options to incentivize emission reductions in Canada’s international

• Supply chains

• Develop a detailed net-zero skills plan to unlock the opportunities that net-zero will bring

• Develop a plan for funding decarbonization equitably

• Develop a public engagement and information strategy

It’s going to take intentional investment from both the private and public sector to tackle climate change and make meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. At this point, all options involve significant investments and costs — including inaction. It’s critical that we work as effectively and efficiently together across sectors to make the best use of time and money and position us to be competitive now and in the future. As the report says right at the start — how we get there matters.

Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.

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StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Keep Fit Women, Mac and Cheese Festival, Wild Rock and The Main Ingredient

PTBOCanada is delighted to be running StoosNews columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…

Kate Ward is the proud owner of the newest division of Keep Fit Women.

Keep Fit Women provides effective and fun workouts and nutrition education, combined with mindset practices, group accountability and community motivation and support. The Grand Opening is this Sunday at Jackson Park on 610 Parkhill Rd. at 11 a.m. where Ward will explain more about the programs, cut the ribbon and serve up some giveaways and treats.

The DBIA’s annual Mac + Cheese Festival is back with 20 mac and cheese dishes to explore throughout the downtown restaurant scene this month.

From the innovative to the traditional, carb lovers will have lots to choose from this year including vegan and gluten-free options. For details and a Mac Map visit ptbomacandcheesefest.com.

Scott Murison and Kieran Andrews recently marked their 30th anniversary in business with Wild Rock, a milestone celebrated by many of their loyal followers.

Kieran and Scott are also celebrating with the announcement that two of their long-time employees, Tori Silvera and Jeff Faulds will be acquiring majority ownership of the iconic downtown store. Scott and Kieran will still be around, it’s all part of a carefully crafted succession plan. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Speaking of transitions, Ken and Deb Fraser of The Main Ingredient, recently announced the sale of their business to Mike and Whitney Hall.

Ken and Deb started The Main Ingredient in 1979 and through various permutations have stayed with their original fundamental approach – a buy-what-you-need bulk health food store, selling supplements, ingredients, dried fruits, kitchenware and more.

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Clothing Store 'The Neighbourhood Vintage' Opens Its Doors in Downtown Peterborough

Wearing classic gear is becoming hip in Downtown Peterborough as Vintage retail clothing store The Neighbourhood Vintage opened for the first time on Friday afternoon.

Vintage clothing store owner Jacquelyn Craft. Photo by Felicia Massey.

Photo by Felicia Massey.

Photo by Felicia Massey.

Photo by Felicia Massey.

Photo by Felicia Massey.

Photo by Felicia Massey.

“This is a shop space, where we can all be in the store together with our items, and a place for people to come try things on and see things and touch things instead of just buying them online, which is how most of us were initially selling,” said Jacquelyn Craft, owner. “Earlier in the spring, I decided to pursue it and actually look into making it official, starting a real business. That’s where the idea for The Neighbourhood Vintage came about.”

Along with other vintage vendors in the Peterborough area, Craft had been discussing opening a physical space to sell their clothing for years.

The Neighbourhood Vintage carries items from eight vendors including Craft’s own brand, Minty Vintage.

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