SCHOOL YEAR CHANGES

Are you concerned about how a change in school year could impact your business?

Trillium Lakelands District School Board will be reconsidering the decision made a few weeks ago to have school return on September 1st. Trustee Beatty has brought a Notice of Motion to Reconsider and that motion will be voted on at the April 14th meeting.

According to school trustees, our neighboring boards, with the exception of Prince Edward/Hastings (Bancroft area) are going back Sept 8 (including Toronto to the further south).

Here is the backgrounder:
http://www.tldsb.on.ca/documents/calendarsummaryforweb_000.pdf

Here is an Elementary school calendar showing students going back Sept 1
http://www.tldsb.on.ca/ElementaryModifiedforMinistryApproval_000.mht

The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be held in Bracebridge on April 14. All are welcome to attend and there is room for public comment. You can request a delegation as some organizations have inquired about. According to Trustees this will be the last opportunity to be heard.

Attached is a letter from Minister Wynne posted at this public site regarding the calendar matter. http://cal2.edu.gov.on.ca/march09.html Just scroll down the March memos.

The Bracebridge Chamber of Commerce has launched a survey to gather input from the business community - follow this link to take part

ATTENTION MANUFACTURERS - SMART WORKSHOP

We are hosting a workshop in Bracebridge on April 2nd to talk about the SMART program.

What is the SMART program?

Thanks to funding provided by the Government of Ontario, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) has created the SMART Program to help small and medium-sized manufacturers in Ontario improve their manufacturing productivity to enable them to compete more effectively in the global economy.

What projects qualify for the SMART program?

We're looking for manufacturing productivity improvement projects that include lean manufacturing, quality improvement, energy efficiency, IT best practices, and environmental impact reduction. Funds being asked for any capital equipment must be going into the facility that has made the application. We'll support the best projects proposed to us, only available up to 50% of project costs or $50,000, whichever is less.

Link here to register for the workshop to be held in the morning of April 2nd.

Link to media release - March 27, 2009

Bracebridge's New Promotional Video

The Town's new community video is now available on the website (www.bracebridge.ca) - follow this link directly to view the video.

TIAO calls for letter writing campaign to oppose early return to school

Bill Allen from the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) has indicated that the Minister of Education is not convinced that having kids return to school one week early will be detrimental to the tourism businesses in Ontario. TIAO has called for a letter writing campaign to the Minister to demonstrate the seriousness of this issue. Here is the

"Unless there is a very compelling reason against the early start, the requests will likely be approved. The Minister is aware of the industry concerns but has not seen a groundswell oF support."

Here is what was sent from TIAO - send your own letter to demonstrate this impact on YOUR business.

March 5, 2009

Hon Kathleen Wynne
Minister of Education
Mowat Block22nd Flr.900 Bay St.Toronto, ON
M7A 1L2

Dear Minister,

I am writing on behalf of the Ontario tourism industry to express serious concern with the decision by many of the province’s school boards to begin the 2009-10 school year one week earlier than the normal post Labour Day opening. There are two significant impacts this policy change will have on individual tourism businesses.

First, tourism is the one industry that employs the largest number of summer students. Most tourism operators rely on these students to remain in their employ until after the Labour Day long weekend. With school beginning a week earlier, businesses will have to scramble to find staff for the one week period to cover until after Labour Day. Traditionally business drops off after Labour Day with the resulting staffing reduction.Second and a more significant concern is the economic impact that will occur because families who traditionally vacation in the last week of the summer and/or over Labour Day weekend may not reschedule. We already have reports from resorts, attractions and summer camps of cancellations occurring due to the anticipated early start to the school year. The tourism businesses are concerned that the shorter summer season for a significant number of Ontarians will negatively impact their business in a year that is shaping up to be an extremely challenging one.

Minister, we ask you to consider the impact the earlier school year start will have on the Ontario tourism industry before you approve the School Boards’ requests. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

W.R. (Bill) Allen
President
c. Minister Monique Smith

SMART Program Session April 2nd, Bracebridge

WELCOME TO CME SMART PROGRAM

Thanks to funding provided by the Government of Ontario, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) has created the SMART Program to help small and medium-sized manufacturers in Ontario improve their productivity so they can compete more effectively in the global economy.

An information Session will be hosted in Bracebridge on April 2nd at the Muskoka Riverside Inn.

For more information visit their website

To register, Click Here