On Monday, Collingwood council will be asked to support a letter to the provincial government asking for an increase in the annual funding used to run the South Georgian Bay Small Business Enterprise Centre.
The centre is operated by the Town of Collingwood under the terms of an agreement with the province to provide some funding. The rest of the money comes from member municipalities including Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, and Wasaga Beach.
Though the municipal support has increased over time, provincial funding has stayed stagnant for the last ten years of the partnership, according to the town's manager of economic development, Johanna Griggs.
Since 2014, when the small business enterprise centre was established, the province has provided the town with $92,640 in annual core funding.
According to a letter on the council agenda for Oct. 16, funding from the member municipalities has increased by 68 per cent while the small business centre has been operating.
Next year, the centre budget will be short about $36,000, even with increases to municipal contributions, according to the letter that will be sent to the province, pending council support.
The letter, which would be sent to MPP Vic Fedeli, minister of economic development, job creation and trade, asks the province to reconsider the funding for the South Georgian Bay Small Business Enterprise Centre before the expiry of the current agreement on March 31, 2024. The province can chose to extend the current agreement by a year.
"It is highly likely that service levels will be interrupted without increased funding," states the letter.
Griggs further clarified that without a funding top-up from the province, there would be fewer new business consultations provided through the centre.
While the Small Business Enterprise Centre administers various programs, including Summer Company and Starter Company Plus, much of their work is in offering consulting services to small businesses and entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses.
According to Griggs, the number of entrepreneurs from Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and The Blue Mountains, accessing that service has trended upwards since 2014.
Collingwood was named the number one place for entrepreneurship in Canada by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses in 2016, and continued to be on the top-ten list in 2019 as well.
Council will be meeting on Monday, Oct. 16 for a council meeting at 2 p.m. The letter asking for more funding for the business enterprise centre is part of the agenda.
