Bruce County’s economic development department shared highlights of the past year with council.
A staff report Thursday said two cohorts of ten women were trained in the Women in Construction Program in a partnership with Huron-Kinloss.
The County also supported the Saugeen Sparks Centre, a program that looks to interest young people in the skilled trades and to provide some free training to them.
The County also continued to award grants to support businesses including five entrepreneurs through the Summer Company Program, eight startup businesses through the Starter Company Plus program and three spark program grants to tourism innovators. The popular Spruce the Bruce program saw 76 grants awarded to local businesses and organizations. That program provides grants for things like new signage, patios, updated fascia and other projects.
In the realm of networking, the County says it continued to build relationships in the energy sector, attending the Canadian Nuclear Association conference and various hydrogen conferences. They’ve been working on bringing newcomers to Canada to the region through the newcomer centre of Peel.
To promote tourism, some campaigns included ‘Dare to Do Winter,’ ‘Book and Look,’ which promoted making reservations at high-demand attractions like the Grotto .’ ‘Hidden Gems’ which promoted locations visitors my not know about like Spirit Rock Conservation Area of Sauble Falls and ‘Fall Getaways,’ which provides curated online booking options for girls’ weekends, couples’ weekends, foodie getaways and adventure trips.