June 30, 2010

Milverton area Real Estate Agent and businesswoman Judy Nafziger has been elected President of the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations (OACFDC), following their recent Annual General Meeting in Thunder Bay.

Ms. Nafziger has volunteered her services on the Board of Directors at the Perth Community Futures Development Corporation since its inception in 2002.  She was elected to represent the Western Ontario Region on the OACFDC Board of Directors in 2008.  Perth Community Futures Development Corporation is one of 61 Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) across rural and northern Ontario. They offer free business counselling, loans for start-up and expansion of small business, strategic planning on local projects, and community economic development.  Each CFDC is locally managed by a volunteer Board of Directors, funded by Industry Canada’s Community Futures Program, through FedDev Ontario in southern and eastern Ontario, and through FedNor in northern Ontario.

“The economic development of rural Ontario is very important to me,” Ms. Nafziger says.  “The federal government is willing to invest in rural Canada through the Community Futures Program, and as a member of the community, I want to be involved.”  She cites keeping young people in small towns and rural communities as one of her key interests.  “Rural economic development provides a way for young people to stay at home in their community, and creates the opportunity for them to prosper and raise a family,” she adds.

As a provincial association, the OACFDC brings together CFDCs from across Ontario to share best practices and work together as a whole, for the betterment of Ontario’s non-urban areas. The Association provides services to their member CFDCs, acts as an advocacy group, and offers professional development.  In her new role as president of the OACFDC, Ms. Nafziger hopes to encourage more partnerships between the public and private sectors. “Community Futures Development Corporations can act as catalysts in their communities to bring different groups together to enhance their local economies.  The OACFDC’s slogan is ‘Local Solutions for Local Economies’,” she says.

To learn more about CFDCs in Ontario or the OACFDC, go to www.oacfdc.com

For more information, contact:

Mary Alderson, Member Services Coordinator

Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations Inc. (OACFDC)

300 South Edgeware Road, St. Thomas, Ontario N5P 4L1

E-mail:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Telephone:  519-633-2326 Ext. 24

Toll Free:  1-888-633-2326 Ext. 24

Fax:  519-633-3563