CALEB NICKERSON
CLARENDON June 21, 2018
The Pontiac SADC held their annual general meeting at the Little Red Wagon Winery in Clarendon on Thursday night, bringing out local entrepreneurs, officials and stakeholders from throughout the region.
The SADC, or community futures development corporation, works with local business owners and non-profits to stimulate economic growth. They offer a variety of services from finance and grant application assistance to marketing and management.
The group is based in Campbell’s Bay and is funded through various government organizations.
After the minutes of the previous meeting were adopted, the financial report was presented by Welch LLP.
This year saw an increase in operating expense revenue from $543,800 to $555,784. The restricted funds revenue increased substantially, mainly due to the recovery of $108,171 in loans previously written off. Total assets for 2018 were $5,321,338 with positive cashflow of $171,813.
Pontiac MP Will Amos attended the meeting and after formalities wrapped up, he announced a new initiative from the Minister of Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains.
Amos announced that the Outaouais would be receiving an additional $58,200 to be allocated to projects from specific demographics.
“It will go to support in particular, female entrepreneurs and Indigenous entrepreneurs. Those that might just need a little extra boost to get engaged,” he explained. “We know that the more women who participate in our entrepreneurial, small-business economy, the better off our small-business economies are.”
Amos added that while he wasn’t clear on the exact figures that would be allocated specifically to SADC Pontiac, the announcement is a positive step.
“That’s only good news for the SADC Pontiac, because as you can see, they’re doing good work,” he said. “It really is a matter of giving more support and I’m going to keep holding out for further funds.”
To round out the meeting, tourism consultant Guylaine Beaudoin talked about marketing the various wineries in the region.
