Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
PEMBROKE – Helping Your Business Excel (HYPE) is a new economic development program being launched by the County of Renfrew. David Wybou, business development officer, presented the framework of the $100,000 plan to the Committee of the Whole, Development & Property (D&P) at its Mar. 26 meeting.
The plan is open to municipalities in the county which have a community improvement plan (CIP). The townships of Madawaska Valley, Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards, and Brudenell Lyndoch and Raglan do not, according to the information Wybou presented.
The, plan, being called a regional incentive program will support activities in select sectors including, tourism accommodation, trail development, affordable housing and energy efficiency. The application window will be the first quarter of the year, ending the third Friday in March. Any funds left over after the first wave of applications would be allocated to a second application window which would be open until the budget is utilized on a first-come-first-served basis. The program is a 50 per cent matched funding formula and no property can receive more than $15,000 per year. The program is open to property owners, “authorized tenants” and non-profit organizations. The program includes maximum project values depending on the category. For example, agricultural projects can receive up to $7,500 while accessibility projects can receive up to $5,000.
The program will require an amendment to the county official plan. Wybou asked the committee to approve the program plan and send it to full council for its Apr. 9 meeting. If full council approves the plan, staff will begin working on the official plan amendment. Wybou’s goal is to receive public input at the May 28 D&P meeting and present the amendment to full council at its June 12 meeting.
Director of Development & Property Jason Davis added that the program, if all goes according to plan, will be up and running for 2026 with the first application window opening in late 2025. Davis also noted that the HYPE program is not an either/or with a local CIP, rather an applicant could receive funding under both a CIP and HYPE. Wybou clarified that in order to receive HYPE funding, the municipal CIP must also be providing funding. The program, said Wybou, would be a cost sharing mechanism. “Twenty-five per cent would be coming from the County of Renfrew, 25 per cent would be coming from the municipality. What it would do is it would double the amount of funds the municipality has to contribute to their CIP program.”
Coun. Michael Donohue raised a concern about the shared funding formula and said he was concerned, if Admaston/Bromley ratepayers are contributing to the HYPE through the county portion of property taxes, that people in that community could not apply for HYPE even if the municipal CIP was not funding the application. Davis responded that the details will be sent to municipalities for feedback and details could be amended after the feedback is received.
robert@thevalleygazette.ca
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