This past fall, local businesses across the municipality participated in a survey sponsored by our Economic Development Task Force. The survey results have provided guidance on what current challenges businesses are facing and activities the Municipality can take to provide some supports.

Next Steps

We are working on the following initiatives:

• Generating a marketing campaign that supports local shopping and businesses. Efforts will include updates to the Visit Meaford – Municipality of Meaford website to enhance information about local businesses and destinations. 

• Working in collaboration with partners, we are exploring ways to encourage safe outdoor winter activities such as enjoying our trails through the end of 2020 and into 2021, which allows residents and visitors to explore and enjoy the Municipality of Meaford while meeting provincial and health requirements in our continued fight against COVID-19. 

• The installation of outdoor restaurant patios in the downtown using public parking spaces was a great addition to Sykes Streets, and we have learned a lot. We are currently updating the program to be responsive to the feedback we received in our efforts to continuously improve. An updated program will be brought to the BIA and Council for their review in the New Year. 

• The Community Improvement Plans for both the Downtown and Economic Development will be updated in the early part of 2021 to offer financial incentives through grants and loans that support business development, redevelopment, rehabilitation and revitalization within the municipality. A public process will be announced in the New Year. 

• Council has recently appointed members to our new Economic Development Advisory Committee. This Committee will play a vital role in supporting the implementation of our recently updated Economic Development Strategic Plan and focusing on strong economics in our community. 

• We continuously look for opportunities to build partnerships with other public agencies and local organizations that can deliver actions which provide a positive outcome(s) for our local economics.

The Municipality is working with restaurants to achieve quick approvals and agreements for a:

• Temporary seasonal patio on private property
• Temporary seasonal patio on Municipal owned property

Contact the us at ecdev@meaford.ca to learn more.

The Province of Ontario is putting measures in place to support economic recovery and re-opening of businesses. The Province has setup a business support webpage dedicated providing businesses with information, resources and posters.

If you have questions about impacts to your business you can contact the Stop the Spread Business Line at 1-888-444-3659. 

If you need to prepare a re-opening plan, the Health Unit will receive and review plans for locations closed due to COVID-19 including inspections, as required.

A  Medical Officer of Health Order is currently in place for face coverings within indoor public places. To learn more about actions outlined for commercial establishments visit Frequently Asked Questions for Wearing Masks and Face Coverings. 

The Grey County website is a great source of information to support all business sectors located within the region.

See their Made in Grey webpage for up-to-date resources, investment opportunities, news and events, and more. 

 There are a number of regional suppliers that can meet your Personal Protective Equipment needs.

The Regional Tourism Organization 7 in collaboration with area partners has introduced the one-time, non-repayable contribution to help tourism-oriented businesses and organizations cover the costs of a COVID-19 related project. 

Find out more in a live webinar at 7pm on Thursday, January 14, 2021. To register for the webinar click here.
 

Request amount: From $2,500 to $20,000 

with applicants having a matching cash contribution of 20%

 Application deadline:

January 31, 2021 

Visit the Regional Tourism Organization 7 to learn more and how to apply.  

This funding offers up to $1,000 reimbursement for the purchase of PPE (defined as costs incurred to adhere to social distancing, touchless payments, new technology, etc.) – retroactive to April 1, 2020.

The funding is available until it is all allocated on a first come first serve basis.

For more information on eligibility  and how to apply visit PPE Recovery Funds Round 2.

Applications are being accepted for the Ontario Small Business Support Grant.

This grant is to assist small businesses that are required to close or restrict services during the Provincewide Shutdown that took effect on December 26, 2020.

It is a one-time grant of $10,000 to $20,000 to help cover decreased revenue.

Eligible small businesses include those that:

• Are required to close or significantly restrict services subject to the Provincewide Shutdown effective 12:01 a.m. on December 26, 2020;
• Have less than 100 employees at the enterprise level; and
• Have experienced a minimum of 20 per cent revenue decline in April 2020 compared to April 2019.

To learn more and apply for this grant, please click here. 

The Province of Ontario is offering Property Tax and Energy Bill rebates for businesses that are, or were, required to shut down or significantly restrict services due to provincial public health measures. The rebates are provided in the form of grants, to eligible businesses to help with their fixed costs. 

Eligible businesses could get rebates for:

• municipal and education property taxes
• energy costs, including electricity and natural gas (or where natural gas is not available, propane and heating oil)

To learn more and apply for the grant(s), please visit the Province of Ontario website here.

 This funding program provides a one time, on-bill credit to eligible small business and registered charity customers to help them catch up on their energy bills and resume regular payments.

Small business and registered charity customers may be eligible for up to $850 in support towards their electricity bill if they primarily use electricity for heating, or up to $425 otherwise.

Small business and registered charity customers could also be eligible for up to $425 in support towards their natural gas bill.

Visit the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program page to learn more about the program and how to apply.

Small businesses with 2-9 employees can receive up to $1,000 one-time grant to address costs associated with purchasing PPE. Eligible businesses shall be within the following sectors:

• retail
• accommodation and food services
• repair and maintenance
• personal and laundry services
• gyms and yoga studios

Visit Main Street Relief Grant to learn more about the finding program and how to apply.

The Government of Canada Loans is offering loans to eligible businesses of up to $60,000.

As of December 4, 2020 approved CEBA applicants can now receive a $60,000 loan. CEBA applicants who have received the $40,000 CEBA loan may apply the CEBA expansion, which provides eligible businesses with an additional $20,000 of financing.

The Loan is to cover operating costs.  Repaying the balance of the loan on or before December 31, 2022 will result in loan forgiveness of 33 percent (up to $20,000).

All applicants have until March 31, 2021 to apply. Visit the CEBA webpage on the Government of Canada website, for more information.