COBOURG/PETERBOROUGH/KAWARTHA LAKES, ON (April 1, 2021) — The Advanced Manufacturing Relief Program was a true team effort with the Community Futures organizations of Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC), Community Futures Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes Community Futures Development Corporation (KLCFDC) joining forces with the manufacturing associations of Northumberland Manufacturing Association (NMA) and Kawartha Manufacturers Association (KMA) to deliver close to 280 hours of specialized relief training to 29 leading manufacturers.

Training was executed across four specialized topics of Health & Wellness, Learning and Innovating with New Technologies, Health & Safety and Human Resources over a 10 week span with participating manufacturers receiving up to five dedicated hours of personalized training, expertise and advice led by experts in each of the outlined fields. Specialists providing expertise and relief solutions for sustainability when reacting, recovering and pivoting to position for growth during COVID-19. The program provided management and employees with relevant knowledge and skills to continue their essential work with training supporting over 2700 employees of small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMEs) across Northumberland County, Peterborough and Kawartha regions. 

The Advanced Manufacturing Relief Program funding was $80,000 with the program administered by the NMA in collaboration with the KMA through the CFDCs local Regional Relief and Recovery Fund with the support of FedDev Ontario and was open to manufacturers located within Northumberland County, Peterborough County and Kawartha Lakes at no cost to the manufacturer.

Quotes

“We’re quite proud that although we trained separately we still had the chance to share best practices between trainers and were able to engage participants in a few collaborative sessions.” – Darla Price, Managing Director, Northumberland Manufacturers’ Association

“It lit a fire under us and made us realize we’re all on the right track if we keep learning and working collaboratively. We want to extend a big thank you to the CFDC’s – our funding partners, who believed in our training delivery ideas, and who always encourage moving manufacturers forward.” – Fred Kosseim, President, Northumberland Manufacturers’ Association

“We recognize manufacturers have faced challenges as a result of the pandemic and we thank the Government of Canada and FedDev Ontario for the opportunity to provide targeted support to this crucial sector.  We were pleased to design and drive a response program, in collaboration with our manufacturing organizations and CFDC colleagues in Peterborough and Kawartha regions, that touched 29 companies and over 2700 employees- setting the stage for a stronger recovery”. - Wendy Curtis, Executive Director, Northumberland CFDC

Associated Links

• Northumberland CFDC
• FedDev Ontario
• Canada’s Regional Relief and Recovery Fund