June 24, 2022 – PETERBOROUGH, ON
The resiliency of Peterborough’s entrepreneurial community continues to shine and was a focus at this year’s Community Futures Peterborough’s Annual General Meeting, held today in-person.

“Hopefully the challenges with COVID-19 are behind us. Area entrepreneurs have demonstrated how versatile they can be and I am optimistic we will continue to see businesses rebound and grow. Our clients and partners are very committed to this community.” says Grant Seabrooke the Chair of the Community Futures Peterborough Board of Directors.

Community Futures Peterborough is celebrating 37 years and since its inception in 1985, has invested close to $38 million in small businesses with a goal of building sustainable employment in our region. Our actual impact is more than 4,000 jobs and $37,860,357 dispersed through our loan portfolio reaching more than 1,000 businesses. That does not include hundreds of businesses that received special funds such as RRRF, Emergency funds, non-repayable contributions (grants) or business services.

“However, money does not solve all problems, so we adapted our programs to match the needs of our clients”, said Gail Moorhouse, the Executive Director at CFP. “This year we built on the success of the Advance Business Advisory Services of last year and created a pilot program called Business Scale Up to help some very focused businesses grow or expand to the next level.” Some results of the program are At the Lake Distributing has expanded and helped an open house at their new location in April, Dan Joyce Clothing opened a new women’s clothing store in Apsley, in May, and Renew Medi Spa expanded to a new location in the past 6 months. “The program was extremely successful and is on the agenda for further development in the coming year.”

The AGM also recognized and thanked outgoing Chair Grant Seabrooke for his leadership with the Board of Directors for the previous two years. Grant will continue to serve on the board. Charlina Westbye, the daughter of the late Judy Heffernan, was sworn in as incoming Chair. Charlina says she is looking forward to the year ahead. “As chair of the board, I’m looking forward to being able to visit the businesses CFP has supported before and during the pandemic. I am excited to hear their stories and learn about their resiliency. I’m equally excited to implement the plans and programs CFP has developed to best support our business community post-pandemic,” says Charlina Westbye.

More information about the Community Futures Peterborough programs can be found on the CFP website at communityfuturespeterborough.ca

The Community Futures Program is funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario),

Community Futures Peterborough’s mission is to support small businesses with flexible financing and strategic advisory services that encourage sustainable employment and accelerate business growth. .

Media Contact:
Gail Moorhouse