Rural Economic Development (RED) Program

For Immediate Release
June 19, 2007

McGuinty Government Helps Boost Prospects for Cobourg

New Strategy Will Help Attract Manufacturing and Tourism Opportunities

COBOURG — The McGuinty government is helping the Town of Cobourg conduct a survey to help determine the best ways to promote community revitalization, economic growth and local tourism, Lou Rinaldi, MPP for Northumberland announced today, on behalf of Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

“This project will prove to be an essential tool for the Town of Cobourg to grow and prosper,” said Rinaldi. “The comprehensive survey that is part of this initiative will help identify partnerships that could encourage that growth and prosperity in the region.”

The province will contribute $11,150 to help the Town of Cobourg and its partners, the Northumberland Central Chamber of Commerce and the Northumberland Manufacturing Association, implement the Town of Cobourg Business Retention and Expansion strategy, by undertaking a business retention and expansion survey of the area’s manufacturing and tourism sectors.

“Thanks to the support of the provincial government, our community can now begin to assess the region’s current manufacturing and tourism industries, and see how we can improve them,” said Mayor Peter Delanty, chair of Cobourg's Economic Development Advisory Committee. “This project will help us strengthen our marketing strategy to not only revitalize the area’s business climate, but also increase visitors to Cobourg and the Northumberland region.”

This is just one more example of how, working together, Ontarians have achieved results in rural Ontario. Other examples include:

• Providing an additional $70 million for the Rural Infrastructure Investment Initiative. This means a total of $140 million will be available for improvements to water systems, roads, bridges and other priorities.
• Providing $472 million in 2007 to rural municipalities through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund.
• Providing $400 million as part of the $1.2-billion Move Ontario initiative for municipal road and bridge maintenance and construction projects; included in this funding is $188 million for rural municipalities and $56 million for municipalities in northern Ontario.

Today’s investment was made through the Rural Economic Development (RED) Program, which invests in community-based projects that support sustainable rural economies in three priority areas: improved access to health care services, revitalized communities and downtowns, and enhanced skills training.

Through the RED Program, the province has invested $31.2 million in 108 projects, representing a total of investment of $187.6 million in rural Ontario, since 2003. The Ontario government and its partners are building strong rural communities that work better for the people who live in them.

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