The Town of Smiths Falls is pleased to announce that two Smiths Falls’ economic development initiatives have received provincial recognition for excellence in economic development by the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO).
The Town of Smiths Falls’ PICNIC program, along with the Smiths Falls & District Chamber of Commerce and Smiths Falls Downtown Business Association (DBA) Local Subscription box programs were both recognized with the Community Economic Development (Rural) award.
“This recognition is welcome news after such a challenging year and a demonstration to the hard work to help support our small businesses throughout the pandemic,” said Jennifer Miller, Manager of Economic Development & Tourism. “These small, micro-economic injection programs have been well received by our business community and have now been recognized provincially for their impact.”
The Smiths Falls’ PICNIC program ran between June and November 2020. This program distributed 403 picnic boxes generating $17,000 in revenue for participating businesses. The Smiths Falls Local Subscription Box program has to date generated approximately $30,000 in revenue for 26 participating businesses through the sale of more than 340 subscription boxes.
EDCO’s membership encompasses over 1,100 members and is Canada’s largest professional economic development association. The EDCO Awards of Excellence is an annual program coordinated through the EDCO Awards Committee and seeks distinctive ideas and initiatives that can become economic development best practices in future. This year’s awards included a new award for Innovation in Community Resiliency that reflects the efforts made to encourage resiliency and reduce the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Close to 60 communities made submissions for 105 projects commencing in 2020 across Ontario. A large panel of industry experts judged submissions to determine the winning entries.
