Representatives of SADC Pontiac are closing out their tour of all 19 municipalities within their coverage area, with stops in Shawville and Otter Lake last week, and one final stop in Luskville in December.
SADCs are federally-funded non-profit organizations with the goal of spurring economic development in Quebec’s rural regions.
Since May, SADC Pontiac has been spending a day in every municipality to meet local entrepreneurs and share information about what services the organization offers.
Business advisor Amy Taylor said this tour was similar to one they did a decade ago to celebrate 30 years.
“For our 30th we did the same thing but we presented to the municipal councils,” she said. “This time we thought it would be better if municipal staff and area businesses knew what was going on. We chose to use the municipal halls as opposed to other locations because newcomers to the Pontiac usually come from the city and business development in their lives starts at the municipal office.”
She added that the organization will be focusing on supporting retail businesses in the coming year, noting that it would be bringing in experts to discuss things like merchandising and point of sale systems with their clients.
“We’ve focused a lot on agriculture and tourism in the past few years, and this year we’re going to focus on retail businesses,” she said.
Director Rhonda Perry said that SADCs across the country are on the verge of signing an agreement with the Business Development Bank of Canada, which would allow them to offer an additional financing option to their clients.
“Right now we can go up to $300,000 locally, our board can [approve] that,” she said, referring to their maximum support for their clients. “But with this we could potentially match it, so we’re talking, we’re playing bigger games now with this new funding, or we can share risk, so we can do [50/50 splits].”
“Hopefully we’ll have the news early 2026, but we know the agreements are coming,” she added.
