Brad Aubin

bradley.aubin@sunmedia.ca

André Robichaud, Kapuskasing Economic Development Corporation(KEDC) development officer was at Monday's council to present KEDC's annual report. The purpose of the report was to provide an annual overview of the KEDC; summarizing the KEDC's progress in meeting it's mandates.

"We're absolutely happy with how our year went," said Mr. Robichaud. "Considering what's going on economically, it was a stellar year. We had new mines and big contractors coming to Kapuskasing, and we're already seeing the spin offs."

In 2011, the KEDC worked on a total of 20 projects and was able to secure over $139,000 in funding to support these initiatives. They also assisted numerous local and regional businesses by providing relevant business information, networking opportunities and funding proposal assistance.

"Something we did in 2011 that we didn't really do often enough in years past, were business visits" he said. "letting them know whats available from funding, etc. We saw tons of positives,"

Another highlight that Mr. Robichaud mentioned was the collaboration between the KEDC and the Kapuskasing Council regarding renewable energy projects.

"It was an initiative that kicked off at the start of 2011, and at the end of 2012's first quarter, all of the solar projects are connected."

Mr. Robichaud mentioned that one of 2012's highlight will be the Model Town's Experimental Farm.

"We're working on a lot of things this year," he said "but one thing that I think is a real asset to the community is our Experimental Farm. It's something that is taking up a lot of our time right now. For the last 10 years the mandate has been to cut costs, and finally we were told it will be closing. We've been at their doorstep saying it can do good, and we think there's a good opportunity here. We're looking at many different ways to keep it going, from Agroforestry, to beef research, and everything in between."

To read the KEDC's annual report, go to www.kapuskasing.ca