More than 700 people from across Canada are meeting at Blue Mountain for a 3 day event on rural economies.
This is the first time the Community Futures National Event will be held in Ontario.
It’s taking place on Thursday and runs until May 30.
Mary Alderson is the Co-ordinator of Member Services for
She says the focus will be on rural economic development right across Canada.
Alderson says they chose Blue Mountain because of its beauty, and because the conference is always held in a rural area.
She says the state of the global economy makes this conference that much more important.
Some of the topics that will be talked about include strategies for rural communities, and promoting small business through the use of digital tools.
People will also be sharing their success stories to the 269 Community Futures Development Corporations represented at the meeting.
Alderson says some of the problems rural business face include transportation, and a lack of high speed internet.
She says there are several projects underway that are getting high speed internet to many rural areas.
The guest speakers at the event include football legend Michael “Pinball” Clemons, and Paralympics Champion Chantal Petitclerc.
Rahaf Harfoush will also be speaking.
She is a social media consultant, who helped promote Barack Obama’s campaign.