Starter Company Plus offers supports to start a new company, to expand an existing company or buy a business in Ontario. The program provides one-on-one guidance from a Small Business Enterprise Centre advisor, business workshops, seminars and networking events with topics ranging from writing a business plan to budgeting to marketing campaigns. Grants are also available for up to $5,000. Find out more.

Administered by FedDev Ontario, the Tourism Growth Program (TGP) will provide $108 million over 3 years to support communities, small- and medium-sized businesses and not-for-profit organizations in developing local tourism products and experiences. Eligible applicants include:
•    incorporated small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the tourism industry
•    Indigenous-owned businesses (including Indigenous sole proprietors) or Indigenous tourism organizations
•    not-for-profit organizations (including tourism associations and economic development organizations)
•    governments (municipal/provincial/territorial and related entities)

Update: The next round of Naturally L&A Activation Fund opens in January 2025. If you have a BIG IDEA to  help make our community even better, we hope you will consider applying. Funding is available for new or enhanced events and tourism products. Eligible organizations include festival and event organizers, residents, businesses and community groups.

Note that, new for 2025, the application window is continuous intake. Successful projects will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis until all funding has been distributed. Applications should be submitted a minimum of 4-months before the event/project date. Projects must be completed by December 31, 2025. 

More details will be distributed once the application window opens. Check out our website for more information.

The Lennox & Addington Community Investment Fund (L&A CIF) is a new initiative undertaken by the L&A Economic Development Team in partnership with community members from across Lennox & Addington. The initiative seeks to be L&A’s first community investment vehicle, allowing local residents to invest in local businesses. The initiative has four core ambitions:
 
1.    Invest in businesses that create demonstrable community benefit
2.    Serve as a bridge for local companies to scale from small operations to employers who can create 5-10 new jobs
3.    Attract creative businesses and innovative entrepreneurs
4.    Be responsive to municipal priorities and community needs
To date, we have been working with a small group of community stakeholders to define core objectives and develop potential models for the L&A CIF and we are now looking to reach a wide group of stakeholders from across L&A to assess interest in the initiative and gauge interest in the different potential models. 
 
County staff will be reaching out to many members of our community directly in the coming weeks but if this initiative sounds like something you may be interested in, we encourage you to reach out directly to the County of Lennox and Addington.

Intake #1 of RTO 9’s Partnership Fund initiative is now open. The purpose of the funding is designed to introduce new tourism products and build on existing tourism products that enhance the region’s diversity of tourism attractions. Current applications will be for projects happening between April 1st and September 6th. There are 3 funding categories available:

•    New Events
•    Development of Indigenous Tourism Product
•    Signage