J.D. Potié
FORT COULONGE
June 13, 2019
On June 13, around 40 Pontiac business people and entrepreneurs gathered at the Chutes de Coulonge for the Pontiac Futures Community Development Corporation’s (SADC) annual general meeting (AGM).
A number of community leaders and political party representatives were present, including Jessica Forgues on behalf of Pontiac MP Will Amos, Denise Morrissette representing André Fortin and Pierre Cyr from Economic Development Canada.
The meeting was initially supposed to include a tour of the park, but those plans got squashed as rain poured heavily throughout the event.
With the meeting being held in both French and English, proceedings began with a word of welcome from SADC board member Paul Boisvert and Director General Rhonda Perry.
After a reading of the minutes from the previous AGM, from SADC president Ellen Boucher and Perry, board member Mario Guay presented a brief financial and activities report from the past year, noting some of the highlights, significant statistics and milestones reached throughout that period.
Among the highlights were the 13 Ways Forum, where municipal leaders and entrepreneurs from the region gathered for a strategy session and their second Farm to Fork dinner in support of local agriculture, among other things.
But the most exciting news of the day was the SADC announcing that it had officially surpassed $1 Million dollars in small business loans in the Pontiac.
As Guay publicized the achievement, several board members humourously entered the room and crowded him with eight large silver balloons that read $1,091,531 when finally set in the right order. The number indicated the total amount of money the SADC had reached in local business loans so far – a moment definitely worth celebrating, according to Perry.
“[Reaching the $1 Million mark] It’s a milestone,” said Perry. “That’s why we celebrate it. That’s why we had the balloons because this is something [Mario] was not expecting.”
According to Boucher, the record amount of money invested has had a significantly positive impact on local businesses and economic growth as it’s enabled enterprises to expand, experiment with new things and support other business owners.
The meeting continued with a presentation of the past year’s financial statements by Welch LLP accountant Daniel Amyott.
The report indicated a slight downtick in total assets at the end of the year. It also showed significant improvement in bad debt, a result of a positive year with plenty of activity among local businesses and the SADC, Perry said.
“We’ve been paying [the debt] down. It was a stronger year. The people, the businesses that we’ve loaned money to have been paying us. So, that’s a good thing. And we loaned out more than we have in the past.”
According to the report, the SADC’s financial position for the year ended in accordance with Canadian accounting regulations for non-for-profit organizations.
Amyott concluded the financial report by announcing his retirement and Boisvert thanked him for all his years of service.
Following the financial report, five seats on the board of directors were open for election where all five previous representatives were re-elected.
Seat one representing Pontiac West, was held by Donald Gagnon, seat three from Pontiac East was held by Lianne Grey, seat five by Ken Pack, seat seven for the Youth department by Paul Boisvert and seat nine was taken once again by Barry Moffat.
After a brief question period, the SADC’s marketing and communications coordinator Brittany Morin made an appearance to present a mini-documentary she produced about local agriculturalists as part of her Farmers of the Pontiac Series.
The most recent one featured Ferme Pleine Lune in Bristol where owners Randi Townsend and Jonathan Smiley spoke about how the SADC helped them turn their organic farm from a dream to a reality.
According to Morin, the goal of the series is to inspire locals with entrepreneurial aspirations to set goals and hopefully start their own business with the SADC’s assistance throughout the process.
The next video will feature Bristol based Coronation Hall Cider Mills and the Little Red Wagon Winery in Clarendon, Morin said.
Following the meeting, after a short break for snacks and beverages, people assembled back into the room for a special tourism packaging and experiential marketing panel.
The workshop featured three Ottawa Valley based experts in the field of tourism as guest speakers, including Barrie Martin from Yours Outdoors, Bonnechere Caves operator Chris Hinsperger and Marketing Officer at the Ottawa Valley Tourism Association (OVTA) Melissa Marquart.
During the workshop, attendees asked questions and exchanged information with the panelists as they provided them with insight on how to market tourism in the Pontiac and how to create an experience instead of a purchase for customers.
According to Hinsperger, it’s crucial for business people in the Pontiac and the Ottawa Valley to work together to develop tourism in the area. Despite being separated by the Ottawa River, both regions share a similar set of values when it comes to tourism, thus their cooperation in business should be a no-brainer.
“When we’re promoting tourism in the Ottawa Valley there’s no separation between the Quebec side and the Ontario side other than we have a river,” he said. “But that river has a whole bunch of bridges that people can cross from one side to the other anytime they want.”
For Marquart, the opportunity to share her insight with the panelists and Pontiac business owners was a great privilege as they’ve always been great people to work with over the years.
“We have a great relationship with our operators over here like the Chutes Coulonge, Esprit Rafting and Spruceholme Inn,” she said. “So, it’s really nice to kind of get out of our backyard and come into our neighbours’ backyard and share some of our ideas and thoughts.”
The delicious food on location was catered by Chapeau-based gourmet chip truck Trimmers and refreshments were provided by Campbell’s Bay craft brewery Brauwerk Hoffman selling cans at five bucks a pop.
