The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre will continue to have a strong presence in the region.

The organization is receiving $489,083.00 from FedNor to maintain programs and services at its Kenora office set.

The agency’s focus is assisting new and existing companies develop and adopt new technologies.

Regional Business Advisor Corey Jones says the Kenora office opened a pilot project to provide strong outreach to businesses and organizations outside the main office in Thunder Bay.

“We’ve definitely seen a massive uptake in interest in the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre programming and advisory services that we offer from businesses located in the Kenora and Rainy River districts. Since opening the office, there has been quite a big spike or boost in uptake in programming from this region since we’ve opened the office,” says Jones.

Jones spends a lot of time on the road.

He says having that physical presence in the communities they service has made a huge difference in the increased interest in our programming.

Jones says the FedNor funding builds on those efforts.

“There are two programs that are specific to just businesses and municipalities located in the Kenora and Rainy River Districts. We have the Kenora and Rainy River District Accelerator Fund. It’s a small-scale grant funding program. It can fund up to $10,000 in matching funding. It’s 50 per cent funding for startup expenses, equipment, professional services, marketing and branding, those type of things.’

The other program, the Rural Innovation Fund, is aimed at remote and small communities and small rural communities with a population of under 3,000 to help them adopt new and innovative solutions to addresses community gaps in such things as food security, broadband services, housing and others.