Conference 2015
September 14-16, Casino Rama
Registration:Conference registration is now open! Register now and save $100 per delegate! The early bird deadline is Friday, July 10th, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. Payments not received by OACFDC within 14 days of invoice will be re-invoiced at the late registration rate.
- Early Bird: Member $540 / Non-Member $640
Rooms:Have you booked your room yet? All suites are $130 per night. Rooms must be reserved directly with the hotel at 1-800-832-7529. Please use group code ONTI15B to ensure the above rate.
Keynote Speakers: We are excited to welcome Lauren Friese, founder of TalentEgg.ca, to kick off our Conference Sessions on Tuesday, September 15th. With Laura’s knowledge and passion for reaching, recruiting and developing opportunities for millennials, we will gain a fresh perspective on the future of businesses.
Closing Keynote:We are excited to welcome Janet Podleski, best-selling Author, Entrepreneur and TV host of “Eat, Shrink & Be Merry, to end our Conference on Wednesday, September 16th. This inspirational, against-all-odds entrepreneurial success story is sure to inspire.
Plenary Presentations & Discussion: Two new research initiatives have been approved by OACFDC. The results of these studies will be presented at the Tuesday September 15th plenary session.
The first is the Conference Board of Canada study who will be updating a report we commissioned in 2009 and 2010 looking at the 5 year impacts of CF lending. That report stated that for each $1 of direct lending through the program, real GDP is increased by $4.22. We are anxious to see how that number has changed in recent years.
The second study will be done by Kathryn Wood of Natural Capital Resources Inc., and will enable CFDCs to see:
- How their performance stacks up against other CFDCs across the province and
- How regions perform compared to the provincial average
- What social and or economic influences may be shaping loan performance – and therefore suggesting different loan portfolio persona and
- What the implications of these findings are for future utilization of current performance measures.
There is a workshop time set aside in Session 1 directly after the plenary. This will be an opportunity for a more in-depth examination of this report hosted by Ms. Wood.
Workshops: a detailed listing of all workshops are found on our website.
- Optional Pre-Conference Board Training Workshop: CFLI Module #3 Legal Responsibilities of Boards: Monday, September 14th, from 1-4pm for $75 +HST.
Recent developments on the OSEB process include:
- A “Wind-down Checklist” document from MTCU has been provided to many/most CFDCs with a request for completion by June 30th. It is to outline your strategy for wind-down. There is still uncertainty around the budget component and what expenses are proposed or approved.
- MPP for St. Thomas has formally requested MTCU information that was used to make the termination decision, particularly that lead to the “just over half of the clients actually complete the program”.
- AMO conference in August 2015 gives opportunity for local municipalities to request a meeting with a provincial minister to discuss local issues/priorities. Norfolk County has requested information on the impact of OSEB and the need for a comparable program for rural entrepreneurs in requesting a meeting with the ministers for MTCU and for MEDEI. Deadline to request the meeting with the Minister is July 3rd, 2015. You may wish to encourage the same in your municipality.
- A comparable group of SBEC/Community Colleges delivering OSEB met June 3rd in Newmarket and have proposed collecting comparable stats for OSEB delivery including completion percentage.
Action Items:
- CFDCs to provide OSEB data to Gord Potts at Venture Norfolk. Thank you to the nine CFDCs who have responded! Data will be used in future representations to federal/provincial ministries. IMMEDIATE USE IS AS BACKGROUND FOR MUNICIPALITIES MAKING DEPUTATIONS TO MINISTERS AT AUGUST AMO CONFERENCE. Our data will be valuable input for impact and for completion percentage. CFDC response to the OSEB survey by July 15th is requested.
The new Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program (CIP 150), part of Canada 150 Celebrates, is a Government of Canada federal approach to commemorate the anniversary of Confederation. Community-based facilities contribute to the quality of life in small communities and large urban centres across Canada. The 150th anniversary of Confederation offers Canadians with an opportunity to celebrate Canada’s history, heritage, values and future by reinvesting in community infrastructure across the country.The program will provide $150 million over two years to support improvements to existing public infrastructure throughout Canada.
Eligible recipients include municipalities, First Nations and aboriginal organizations and their related entities, as well as not-for-profit organizations, thus we ask and encourage you to share information about the new program with any groups in your area you feel may have eligible projects.
You can find more details on CIP 150 program criteria including eligibility requirements, program guidelines, as well as application forms at http://fednor.gc.ca/eic/site/fednor-fednor.nsf/eng/fn04394.html
Through the Abilities Connect Fund of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Valuing Ability Employment program aids employers and businesses in hiring and training postsecondary students or recent graduates (within four years of graduation) who identify as having a disability.
Businesses are entitled to receive funding for training costs (up to eight weeks), for a maximum of four employees or Co-operative Education Program (CO-OP) students. Positions for these employees must offer meaningful work experience. Employees themselves must self-identify as having a disability and the employment term must be a full-time position for a minimum of four months. Full details available at http://www.occ.ca/programs/accessibility-works/abilities-connect/valuing-ability-employment/
North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation
The Board of Directors of North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation is pleased to announce that Chris McLaughlin has taken on the role of General Manager for the organization. Chris holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University with a specialization in Political Science and Economics. Chris has been working in the not-for-profit sector for 12 years (most recently as the Director of Operations of NEOnet and previously as a Business Development Officer with the Venture Centre – the Community Futures office located in Timmins, Ontario). Chris is looking forward to working with businesses and stakeholders in the region to enhance economic growth in the area. Chris can be contacted at (705)-526-1371 Ext. 117, or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Staff and Volunteers would like to thank Debra Muenz for her dedication and contributions to this region’s community economic development growth over the last 25 years and wish her all the very best in her retirement.
Business Help Centre of Middlesex County
The Middlesex Business Help Centre would like to welcome Mary Anne Foster as the General Manager of the Middlesex Business Help Centre in Poplar Hill. In addition to her past experience as Vice President of Business Operations for a private corporation, Mary Anne comes to the organization with over 20 years of non-profit management experience; the last 17 spent in the role of Executive Director of the Monsignor Feeney Foundation. Mary Anne is a Western University alumnus, and a resident of London, Ontario. Mary Anne can be reached at (519) 641-6100 Ext. 104, or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 Congratulations to Donna Pollock of Patricia Area Community Endeavors. Donna has completed her certification as a Business Analyst with the Community Futures Leadership Institute.
Congratulations also go out to Claire Béland of Economic Partners Sudbury East/West Nipissing Inc., who has completed her Omega Performance “Business Lending Fundamentals” course and is now enrolled in the “Financial Accounting” for Lenders course
In Fall 2014, FedNor hired Natural Capital Resources Inc. to perform a socioeconomic analysis for 24 Northern Ontario Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) as a provision to program evaluation and to help CFDCs set – and achieve – meaningful targets for their individual organizations and the communities they serve.
Written by Kathryn Wood (host of the Plenary Session entitled “Understanding the Numbers: What Loan Portfolio Performance tells us about our Clients, Communities and Regions” at the 2015 Conference), this report provides a summary of the socioeconomic analysis and related observations with factors including total population, population density, population migration, working age population and levels of education and training.
You can access the full publication online on the OACFDC website at the following address: http://www.oacfdc.com/files/Socioeconomic_Analysis_-_Northern_Ontario_CFDCs_EN_FINAL.pdf
The firm Brown & Cohen (B&C) had been hired to develop a public relations course of action for Northern CFDCs. As part of this work, they purchased images that could be used by our members for their various social media needs. Recently, we were made aware of a licensing issue that affected two of those preliminary images found in the Social Media Toolkit. Our members will no longer be able to use those two images without purchasing their own license from Getty Images.
B&C has contacted their designer to remedy this solution and has made arrangement to have certain images relicensed as well as purchasing new images for this same use. These images have been licensed for unlimited users. All of the images that are licensed and available for use can be found at http://www.oacfdc.com/communications-resources/pr-initiatives/1048-social-media-toolkit/social-media-banners-2
If you have used either of the two images below as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter banners, please replace them with any of the images found in the above link.
The firm of Brown & Communications apologizes for any inconvenience this issue may have caused our members.
We welcome back Chelsea Preston as the Office Assistant for her third summer with the OACFDC. Chelsea was hired under the Canada Summer Jobs program and continues to be a huge help in our conference planning.
We also welcome Priya Mehta, the Bilingual Communications Assistant, who is working on a variety of French and English projects including newsletters, website input and conference items.
Would your CFDC office be interested in purchasing professional-looking 9 X 12 presentation folders with glued pockets and business card slots? Some OACFDC members have expressed interest in new portfolios, but we need a few more CFDCs to tell us how many they would like in order for us to get a quote on the print job based on quantity.
If you are interested, please contact us at 519-633-2326 ext. 125 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let us know how many you would be interested in.
Did you know that you can easily send out an email blast to some or all of our 500+ signed up members? Whether it’s announcing a new employee, asking a question, posting a job or just sharing information you feel is important for our membership to know, simply send your email text as well as any logos or pictures you want included, to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
You can let us know if you want the message sent to everyone or just select groups (for example- all managers or all volunteers). We can set up the email in such a way that all replies go back to you and only you.
We know that today’s work environment is ever changing and we all need to be skilled in performing a wide variety of tasks. In conjunction with the Regional Networks, the OACFDC is developing a “Training Needs Assessment Survey”.
This is an important step towards providing appropriate training programs for CFDC staff and Volunteers. We will be looking to receive lots of feedback from all of you.
CommonGoals Software is pleased to announce that TEA 10.2 will be released this quarter and will boast a number of new features that will simplify many aspects of TEA including:
- New Loan Refinance Wizard to significantly reduce the steps and simplify the entire refinance process in TEA
- New System views for Transactions, Amortization Schedules and Collateral providing enhanced analysis in the respective areas
- New Metro2 Credit Reporting for Canada which will replace the Equifax Canada Module previously in TEA 10.
- New Core Reports including Expired Amortization Schedules, Loan Interest Paid Statement, and more…
- New Summary fields being added which will provide significantly more field display options in TEA Custom Views
- New transactional fixes to enhance interest calculations and global interest accruals
- Ability to set the primary borrower, guarantors and co-borrowers of a loan to be a Business or an Individual
- Several new administration features will be added including the ability to reassign Loan Officers (Grants/Investments) as well as associated tasks
There are many other feature enhancements and fixes that will increase the efficiency of TEA 10 for your organization
CommonGoals will be providing instructional webinars on all the new features leading up to the release date of TEA 10.2 so watch your email for times and dates. Additionally, we are offering a free Lunch and Learn training session on July 7th at 12:00 PM EDT focusing on Reporting Tips in TEA 10 so please attend if you are available. CommonGoals wishes everyone a safe, happy and relaxing summer!
Thanks and take care,
John
We thank all member managers who have already completed the 2014 Salary & Benefits Survey. Once compiled, this valuable information will be shared with all member managers anonymously.
The winner of the draw to win free registration and accommodation for two nights at the 2015 conference is: Karen Senecal of CDC of Sault Ste. Marie & Area! Congratulations!
As of today, 36 offices have completed their surveys but we can’t post results until at least 80% of all CFDCs have taken part. We require 12 more completed surveys by July 3! We appreciate you taking the time to complete the survey.
Roxanne Daoust of the Venture Centre recently convinced the Timmins City Council to pass a resolution to permanently fly the Franco Ontarian flag in front of City Hall.
This is a historic and inspiring story for all Francophone speakers during the “400e anniversaire des francophones”.
Do you have staff or board changes? Retirements, new hires or new volunteers?
Don’t forget to send us your updated staff and volunteer email addresses so that we can add them to our communications distribution lists. We will also sign them up to access the OACFDC website which has many resources available to members.
Also make sure to “Like” and Share the OACFDC Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed to keep up to date on events, resources and news.
Don’t forget to keep checking our online OACFDC calendar at http://www.oacfdc.com/view-calendar-2
We are continually adding events/workshops/webinars which are all great resources for staff and volunteers. If you have an event you would like us to post, please send it along to Brenda at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
