2023 Economic and Tourism Development Year-End Report
BUSINESS START-UP, RETENTION AND EXPANSION
Start-up Business Kit With assistance from the Province’s Rural Economic Development Program, the Small Business Coordinator and Marketing Coordinator worked with a local graphic designer to create business kits that contain worksheets, inspiration and useful items for anyone who is beginning the journey of starting a business. 43 kits were distributed in 2023, and it even won a Marketing Canada award from the Economic Developers Association of Canada. The kit also contains a calculator, notebook, pen, bear shaped stress ball andmore.
Spring Job Fair
30 individuals were hired following this event. Upwards of
We heard from business owners
regularly about the challenges of finding employees. In partnership with Loyalist College’s Bancroft Campus, we hosted a Spring Job Fair on March 28th. Close to 150 job seekers attended and metwith20 employers. Upwards of 30 individuals were hired following this event.
eLearningU Tourism Marketing Training
Culinary Tourism Workshop We partnered with the Culinary Tourism Alliance on a workshop geared towards assisting our local farmers, producers and restaurants. We welcomed celebrity Chef Carl Heinrich who shared valuable insights and knowledge from over a decade of experience running a successful restaurant in downtown Toronto. Close to 40 businesses and farmers attended.
In September, we partnered with Canada’s premier digital marketing training platform, eLearningU. This annual membership grants 20 Hastings County businesses access to a lesson library filled with educational content from leading experts and educators and offers the opportunity to learn about the very best in tourism marketing. Our Learning Dashboard has three custom tutorial videos created just for Hastings County members that address real-time challenges we face in rural Ontario and how to tackle them. The goal of this partnership is to equip industry professionals with foundational skills in digital marketing tools, tactics, and strategies so they can cut through the noise, and focus on driving results.
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