Grey County is receiving $845,000 in federal funding to enhance supports for businesses at the Sydenham Campus in Owen Sound. The announcement was made on behalf of the Honourable Minister Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages by Parliamentary Assistant Marie-France Lalonde. The funding will support the creation of a maker space and device lab and advisory and acceleration services for small and medium sized businesses, allowing local accelerator Catapult Grey Bruce to offer more supports.

Catapult Grey Bruce is a not-for-profit located at the Sydenham Campus organization helping entrepreneurs to scale their business. Catapult provides mentorship and acceleration through Fast Lane Plus, a program developed for small and medium sized businesses and licensed from Innovation Guelph. Catapult was founded by local business leaders and funded by the private sector.

“By collaborating with Grey County and its partners, we are supporting important parts of our region’s economy to stay strong, while bringing new innovators into the market and helping them commercialize their ideas, all while creating 50 jobs locally,” said Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages (FedDev Ontario and Official Languages).

“As Canada recovers from the impact of the pandemic, we are partnering with local leaders like Grey County and its many collaborators to foster the right conditions for 75 businesses and entrepreneurs to grow, stay local and build back better together,” said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. “We will continue to support their efforts to strengthen and grow their local economies and create good jobs across southern Ontario.”

"This funding will allow us to engage more businesses and implement the Fast Lane Plus program to help regional businesses scale and grow in Grey and Bruce Counties," said Catapult Grey Bruce Chairperson, Courtney Denard.

Creating fabrication and maker space labs allows the Sydenham Campus and Catapult to offer entrepreneurs a place to protype and experiment, as well as offer training on leading edge technology. Grey County Warden Selwyn Hicks says, “Having access to the latest equipment and tools is a big advantage for our local entrepreneurs and people learning new skills. This funding is outstanding news and we are delighted the Federal Government recognizes the importance of rural entrepreneurs in Grey County.”

FedDev’s contribution of $845,000 is part of the overall project cost of $2,664,695 with contributions coming from the private sector and Grey County. Businesses looking to access Catapult’s business services or programs, can contact them through the website below. Anyone interested in learning more about the fabrication labs / maker space, can contact the Sydenham Campus, Grey County.

The Sydenham Campus was established by Grey County as regional training and skills center with small business support and entrepreneur training. The facility is also used by various groups, such as the Tenneco Employee Group, OYAP youth training, paramedic training, investor meetings, small business training, student market place, heights training, and regional job fairs. Current tenants include a new STEM Summer Camp, Azadmedica Inc. - Medical Researcher, Catapult Grey Bruce, Small Business Enterprise Center, YMCA Employment Services – health care training, Bayshore Physio Therapy, and Kilian Academy.

The facility is operating within all local and provincial public health guidelines.

source: Grey County