Frontenac County calls special meeting to consider economic development officer position

Jeff Green | Oct 26, 2016

$35,000 allocated in County budget for FCFDC

Frontenac County Council has defied the advice of their Chief Administrative Officer, Kelly Pender, by tentatively placing a $35,000 grant in their 2017 budget to help the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (FCFDC) cover its operating costs.

Anne Prichard, executive director of the FCFDC, made a pitch to the council last month. She pointed out that her agency, which is a federally funded not-for-profit corporation, has run into difficulty covering administrative costs because of structural under-funding.

The FCFDC provides support for businesses in Frontenac County in the form of advice and workshops on various topics as well as providing loans and overseeing federal grant programs. A funding cut several years ago eliminated one position in the now three-person operation. In order to balance the books, Prichard has been using a portion of the interest earned on loans to cover operating costs, which is permitted under the agency’s operating guidelines from the FEDNOR, the federal agency that funds it.

However, as Prichard pointed out to Frontenac County in September, the loan portfolio of the FCFDC has increased as new businesses have come on stream in Frontenac County and existing businesses contemplate expansion.

“You are essentially a victim of your own success,” said North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins, after Prichard made her pitch in September.

“To an extent,” Prichard said, adding that new funding is being determined by FEDNOR, which could alleviate or eliminate the problem.

“We are the youngest and one of the smallest of the CFDCs in Ontario, and that has made it difficult under the current funding formula. We have made FEDNOR aware of this and we hope that is reflected in the new formula,” Prichard said.

When Prichard asked for support from Frontenac County, she presented two options: $35,000 for operational support, or $30,000 to support one of the FCFDC initiative, the Food and Beverage (FAB) region project it has undertaken with L&A and Hastings Counties.

In his report on the requests, CAO Kelly Pender said the $35,000 request to support day-to-day operations was not something he could recommend.

“Operating costs are very seldom, if ever, funded by a granting agency to any organisation. It is not known if this is a one-time cost or if it is a request for an on-going grant request. $35,000 represents a 0.41% levy [to Frontenac ratepayers],” he said in a report to a budget meeting that preceded the regular meeting of council last Wednesday, October 19.

Pender did support option 2, which would see Frontenac County joining with two other neighbouring counties in funding a specific project. He added the proviso that the FCFDC provide a report on expenditures and on the impact of the project, and asked for confirmation of the continued involvement of Lennox and Addington and Hastings counties.

However, when the matter came before Council, the argument was made that Frontenac County should provide direct support to the FCFDC, and option 1 was proposed and voted on. The result was a 5-3 vote in favour.

Of the opposition votes, two were cast by South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal. Vandewal has two votes because he is the mayor of the largest township in the county - 18,000 of the approximately 27,000 residents live in South Frontenac.

During a break in the meeting Vandewal said that he did not vote against the motion because he doesn’t support the FCFDC.

“I support them and I voted that way because I think the county should look at contracting out economic development to the FCFDC. Our economic development officer is about to retire and rather than giving them a band-aid we should consider contracting out the service to them,” he said.

Later meeting, North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins put forward a notice of motion to suspend the hiring process for a new Economic Development Officer until a discussion can take place about the potential for contracting out the service.

CAO Kelly Pender said a short list of candidates have been developed but interviews have not yet begun to fill the position.

In order to have a discussion before the position is filled, a special was called for November 2nd to fully air the issue.

The purpose of the meeting is to “evaluate the position of the Manager of Economic Development and to discuss options for the implementation of the county’s Economic Development Strategy,” said a notice that was posted on the Frontenac County website this week.

Anne Marie Young is the current economic development officer for Frontenac County. She is retiring at the end of 2016. Her tenure in the post has been marked by efforts to complete the K&P Trail; an increased profile for the county in the Eastern Ontario region; and the recent branding initiative. She was the 2016 recipient of the Economic Developer of the Year award at the annual Ontario East Economic Development conference in August.