Grey County council has decided it will not give the Eat Local Grey Bruce organization direct funding.
County council at its meeting on Jan. 26 (the meeting was held virtually due to weather conditions) voted in favour of a staff report that recommended providing Eat Local Grey Bruce training and support through the county’s Business Enterprise Centre.
Director of Economic Development, Tourism and Culture Savana Myers delivered the report to council, which was approved unanimously.
Eat Local Grey Bruce approached county council on Jan. 12 and requested a direct grant of $20,000 to assist the group financially and ongoing support of $4,200 a month to cover the costs of renting a warehouse for its program. The organization has run into financial issues and is nearly insolvent.
Myers said Eat Local Grey Bruce is a commercial enterprise and explained to council that Section 106 of the Municipal Act prohibits the county from giving a single business direct financial support.
Myers said the county has worked with the organization extensively over the past seven years and wanted to see the organization continue.
“This is a difficult situation. We really want to see them succeed,” she said.
Myers said the county could provide support, training and consultation through its Business Enterprise Centre for Eat Local Grey Bruce.
“In 2020, Eat Local Grey Bruce was funded through the Investment Readiness Program to formalize policies and procedures, complete full financial assessments and perform comprehensive strategic planning exercises in an effort to ensure continued sustainable growth,” Myers said in her report. “Given the work completed through this process, further refined professional consultation and training to restructure would be possible through the available BEC mandate and budget. With interest, staff will also develop a focused training series for local producers impacted through this transition. If the board is willing to pause and take time to do this work, the staff is committed to providing these services.”
County council approved the report with no comments. Grey Highlands deputy mayor Dane Nielsen thanked county staff for the background information on the situation and their quick turnaround on the report.
