Shelburne receives $65,000 in grants for community development plan & website

November 22, 2018 · 0 Comments

Written By PETER RICHARDSON

On Friday, November 16th, members of Shelburne’s Economic Development Committee (EDC) met with Mayor Elect Wade Mills, CAO Denyse Morrissey and Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones to receive two Rural Economic Development (RED) investment grants from the new PC Government.

Totaling $65,000, $40,000 will go to develop a Community Improvement Plan (CIP), to help revitalize and transform the downtown core and surrounding communities. The Town is also receiving $25,600 to develop, redesign and launch a new website.

MPP Jones, on behalf of her colleague Ernie Hardeman, the Minister for Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, made the announcements during a brief noon hour meeting at Town Hall. “Our government is proud to support projects that help to grow jobs and open doors to economic development in rural and indigenous communities. Ontario has a first-class agri-food and agriculture sector, and I am pleased to be able to help our community identify their economic strengths and develop strategies that can attract business and investment,” she said. She applauded Shelburne’s good fortunes and commended the Town on both their projects.

The RED program helps create jobs and prosperity in rural indigenous communities. Shelburne was one of over 80 communities in rural Ontario to receive grants for 2018.

Minister Hardeman stated in a press release that “Rural Ontario had been ignored for too long” and that a strong and vibrant agri-food and agriculture sector was a priority of the Conservative government. He went on to say that the RED commitments and the ones to cut red tape would help create a strong future for rural communities in Ontario.

EDC Coordinator Carole Maitland outlined the progress on the new website, explaining some of its many features and improvements over the current site. Mayor Elect Mills also spoke to the website’s new features and better accessibility, a point, which he stated had been one of discussion in the recent election campaigning for Town Council. He also spoke to the downtown improvement issues and expressed his gratitude to MPP Jones for the government support of these projects.

“Our government is committed to ensuring that rural Ontario is open for business,” added Ms. Jones.