Peterborough Blogs
Voice of Business: We Need to Invest in Public Transit
/
Investing more in public transit will help our city thrive.
Public transit is crucial for people getting to school, appointments, work, the grocery store and to visit friends and family. For some, it’s an economical option compared to car ownership. Some prioritize transit to cut down on their carbon footprint. Some simply prefer not to drive or have physical barriers to operating a car.
Before the pandemic hit, public transit was providing nearly 5 million rides per year.
One particular aspect of transit is hitting businesses particularly hard – the commute.
The Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce recently issued a letter to Mayor Jeff Leal and members of City Council advocating for further investments in transit.
Businesses in Peterborough are struggling to access the workforce they need. According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Canadian Survey on Business Conditions Report, Q4 2022, businesses cited labour-related challenges as three of their top 10 barriers. More than one-third of businesses across Canada report significantly struggling to retain and recruit the workers they need.
It is a complex problem and will take multiple solutions to address. One area that employers have brought to our attention is the struggle many of their staff have getting to work via public transit. Of businesses surveyed, 57% responded that improved transit service would help them access their workforce needs. The biggest concern raised was route disruptions and cancellations. If an employee does not live within walking distance of their work and does not own a car, they need reliable service. Regular, last-minute bus cancellations make it very difficult to get to work on time, if at all. Many resort to paying significantly more than a bus ticket for a ride to work, sometimes multiple times per week. The added expense, uncertainty, and frustration at wasting their time leads people to consider other employment options.
Other barriers highlighted include bus schedules not fitting with shifts, the length of time it takes to reach their destination, and transit stops not being in convenient locations.
We have employers in our community where 30% to 50% of their workforce depend on public transit to get to work. Route disruptions and cancellations are leading to turnover as employees consider both shorter commutes and working from home.
The City of Peterborough is undertaking a review of its transit service. We would like to see the needs of our local businesses and workforce considered when deciding how we invest in transit and how we plan and schedule routes. When determining what kind of service to support, we would like council to consider how it will impact and hopefully enhance people’s ability to get to work. Our workforce needs safe and accessible transit stops in residential neighbourhoods throughout the city with convenient stops in commercial and industrial employment areas
Recruitment and retention are huge struggles for many businesses right now and the issues are not expected to subside any time soon. We believe investing in more reliable transit services will improve the resilience of our local businesses.
It is clear that public transit will play a vital role in the growth of our city. Investing in a more robust transit service will help employers generate economic growth, create a stronger workforce, improve the quality of life in our community, and help us address our climate change goals.
Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.
StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Nixon Electric Company, Permanent Beauty, Community Futures Peterborough and Homeward Bound
/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…
Jesse Nixon recently started his own business.
Nixon Electric Company provides a wide range of electrical services to residential and commercial customers, including installation, repair and maintenance. Fully licensed and insured, with extensive knowledge of local building codes and regulations, Jesse offers everything from lighting, electrical panel upgrades, EV Charger installation and generator installation to a full suite of commercial services.
Permanent Beauty is a unique clinic at 354 Charlotte St.
It specializes in permanent cosmetics, injectables, lashes, fine line tattoos, micro pigmentation and lots more. Owner Kalayna Cabral-Iammancini is particularly proud of her daughter Kiki, who has just introduced her own line of crystal-infused, lightly scented, healing candles. Called Gemini Moon, each candle contains at least 10 crystals and is lightly scented. Check out this budding entrepreneur’s product line at 354 Charlotte St. in Peterborough or online.
Devon Girard, the new Community Futures Peterborough executive director and Board Chair Charlina Westbye, recently unveiled a new brand identity for the organization.
The new logo pays tribute to the federal government, which provides the funding for CFP’s loans, while reflecting a modernized look and their redefined strategy for supporting local entrepreneurs. Community Futures Peterborough supports small businesses in the City and County of Peterborough with flexible financing. It has invested more than $38 million in 1,000 small businesses since 1985, creating or maintaining more than 4,000 jobs in the City and the County.
Homeward Bound is a program run through Peterborough Housing that works with single mothers.
The program provides, housing and education as the women get trained or retrained for the workforce. It’s been very successful in graduating six women so far, who are all working in their field, including plumbing, paralegal, instrumentation, ECE and educational assistant.
The Spring cohort is currently looking for placements and hopefully apprenticeships in carpentry and plumbing. If your business is looking for motivated talent or if you know of a single Mom who is in transition, reach out to Maisie Watson at Peterborough Housing or visit ptbohousingcorp.ca.
Spring Intake Applications Open For Starter Company Plus Program
/This spring, aspiring and established entrepreneurs in Peterborough & the Kawarthas can make their business ideas a reality with the Starter Company Plus Program.
photo courtesy of invest ptbo
Starter Company Plus is designed to provide business training for entrepreneurs in the City of Peterborough and Peterborough County who are launching or expanding a business that has been operating for 5 years or less. The program provides one-on-one consultations with the program facilitator and in-person/virtual training with experts who guide entrepreneurs through writing a business plan.
“For many, 2023 is a year where individuals are looking to take something they may have been operating on the side or a passion project developed throughout the pandemic and turn that business into a reality. This is a comprehensive self-employment training program that sets entrepreneurs up for long-term success,” says Madeleine Hurrell, manager of the Business Advisory Centre.
The Starter Company Plus program has supported numerous businesses to grow from early-stage startup to retail enterprise and to grow their teams, product lines and marketing channels.
“Participants who successfully complete the program and submit a final business plan and pitch to our panel of judges have an opportunity to receive one of six $5,000 micro-grants to start or grow their business,” continue Hurrell.
Since its launch in 2017, the Starter Company Plus program, delivered by Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development’s Business Advisory Centre, has assisted over 215 local entrepreneurs and more than 174 small businesses. These small businesses have created over 200 jobs in the local economy.
Applications close on April 30, and applicants can learn more about the program and apply online.
Voice of Business: A Tale of Two Budgets
/Both the federal and provincial governments have recently released their budgets and they could hardly be more different.
Ontario’s budget came in $10.7 billion under its initial projected deficit with projections of a balanced budget next year. Its debt to GDP ratio shrank. Driving this is higher revenue from inflation.
It’s in stark contrast to the federal budget where the deficit for this year is expected to increase by $6.6 billion. The plan to balance the budget by 2027-28 is gone, with no current projections or strategy for balancing the books. Our national debt to GDP ratio is increasing this year but is expected to decline later.
In the fiscal philosophy of spending when times are bad and saving when times are good, we’re getting some mixed messages regarding what times we’re in.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has its analysis of the budgets. The highlights for Ontario include:
Further steps to address labour market challenges by boosting immigration through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program and removing barriers to foreign credential recognition through the Ontario Bridge Training Program.
Creation of additional pathways into health care jobs through the expansion of the dual credit program which will provide secondary students with opportunities to start their careers as nurses, personal support workers, medical laboratory technicians and paramedics sooner.
Introduction of the Ontario made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit to support local manufacturing companies in investing and expanding in Ontario, strengthening provincial supply chains.
Investments in mental health through an additional $425 million over three years for mental health and addictions, including a five per cent increase in the base funding of community‐based mental health and addiction service providers funded by the Ministry of Health.
It comes up short in investing further in the healthcare system, supporting small businesses through scaling digitization funding and improving access to capital, climate adaption and mitigation strategies, removing interprovincial barriers to trade and labour mobility, and investing further in our supply chain.
For the federal budget, the OCC’s analysis pulls out a few highlights:
Incentivizing investments in the green economy, with new refundable tax credits for clean electricity, carbon capture, and equipment to manufacture and process clean technologies and critical minerals; an expansion of the reduced corporate income tax rates for zero-emission technologies; and funding through the Canada Infrastructure Bank for major clean infrastructure projects.
Advancing economic reconciliation by developing an Economic Reconciliation Framework, supporting Indigenous equity ownership of infrastructure projects, co-developing a First Nations-led National Land Registry to help realize economic benefits of First Nations lands, and implementing a co-developed Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.
Mitigating supply chain challenges by introducing measures to support a National Supply Chain Strategy and developing transportation supply chain data that will help reduce congestion, improve efficiency, and inform future infrastructure planning.
Supporting a resilient health care system through the New Canadian Dental Care Plan, funding for a renewed Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy to help address the opioid overdose crisis, and an ongoing focus on data collection.
The federal budget fell short on addressing labour market needs, reforming employment insurance, fast-tracking broadband internet investments, modernizing the federal tax system, and committing to regulatory reforms for industries that include cannabis, hospitality, and tourism.
Both budgets tackle some of the key issues our business community is facing and both fall short in some crucial areas.
Whether we should be tackling the current inflation challenges and looming recession with a budget big on spending or using the “good times” of increased government revenue to reign in spending is a difficult question — though both governments are clearly showing where they stand on the issue. The next year is going to be difficult to predict in terms of our economy. It will be interesting to see how accurate current spending predictions are at the end of the fiscal year.
Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.
Kawartha Credit Union Grow Assets By 5.7 Per Cent; Hold 71st Annual General Meeting
/Kawartha Credit Union has reported that its assets grew by 5.7 per cent which was reported at the 71st Annual General Meeting announced on Friday afternoon.
Photo courtesy of Kawartha Credit Union.
The meeting was held virtually on Wednesday as the bank received the Board of Directors annual. The 5.7 per cent ended the year at $2.13 billion, according to Norah McCarthy, president and CEO.
“We earned a net income of $7.5 million, increased our membership and grew our loan book at a pace faster than we have achieved in a number of years,” she said.
The meeting also elected three Directors to Kawartha’s Board, Mary McGee, Colin McKeen and Thomas Gregoriades. They are taking over for Gerard Byrne, Emma Elley and Carl Silvestri who have left the board. The meeting also recognized Carl Silvestri for serving on the Board for 37 years. An online election was conducted from January 27 to February 10 that sought out the new members.
“We thank our members for their trust in us and for the privilege of helping them achieve their financial goals,” said McCarthy. “We are also grateful to our employees for their commitment to our members’ financial success and well-being.”
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.
StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Sign-a-fied, Dave Donaldson Contracting, Innovation Cluster and Carveth's Marina
/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…
Sign-a-fied, Peterborough’s newest sign company has opened at 774 Rye St., at the site of the former Signarama.
Peterborough business owner and entrepreneur Steve Daynes acquired Signarama and has retained its core staff of designers, production workers and service experts. Sign-a-fied is local, indigenous-owned and managed and is not part of a franchise. Sign-a-fied is a full-service sign company offering custom digital signage design, from design to fabrication, servicing, and installation. Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Dave Donaldson Contracting has added some key new pieces of equipment, including a mini swing hoe and a brush head.
The swing hoe can get into some tight spaces, while the brush head is like a giant weed whacker, designed to clear minor brush on driveways, cottage roads, fire roads, widening laneways for fire and rescue and service vehicles or for reclaiming agricultural lands. For details and a quote, call Dave Donaldson in Warsaw at 705-652-7366.
The Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas recently announced the winners of the Cubs' Lair 2023 entrepreneurial competition.
The $3,000 first-place prize went to Richa Sharma for her ground-breaking business, TastEATools, an edible cutlery manufacturing business. The runner-up was Sustainabite, a business app that collects surplus food from local grocery stores and fast-food chains. Third place went to Titan SmartLock, a highly secure smart lock solution controlled either manually or by your smartphone.
Randy Hauth at Carveth’s Marina introduced the Boaters Assistance Association last year, which works like a roadside assistance program.
If you hit a rock or run out of gas or just need a ride, you can call for help. Hauth has added a new twist this year, a GPS tracking system so that when you need help, help knows exactly where you are. It tracks ignition status, battery alerts and a one-touch SOS signal.
Innovation and Technology Showcase Returns to Fleming College April 5
/Creativity, dedication and teamwork will be on full display at the Venture North building during the annual Fleming College Innovation and Technology Showcase on April 5.
photo courtesy of flemng college.
