Duane Hicks
“What’s Mine is Yours.”
In light of New Gold’s ongoing Rainy River Project, the Rainy River Future Development Corp. continues to send the message that Fort Frances is open for business.
Geoff Gillon told council at its Nov. 23 meeting that the RRFDC has been promoting “Fort Frances as a destination for mining supply and services companies.”
It has placed ads in “Ontario Prospector” (a mining and resource magazine) while a mail-out was developed and sent out to 300 mining supply and services companies advertising the opening of the new mine and promoting industrial park property here.
(A similar mail-out promoting the wood sector is being prepared right now).
The RRFDC also has purchased commuter corridor advertising at the Winnipeg Airport from Oct. 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016, which will provide information to all passengers in arrival from Northern Ontario and Manitoba.
The timing of this will coincide with the major Canadian and Manitoba mining shows.
On the same note, the RRFDC purchased a banner ad for the next 12 months at the Thunder Bay Airport, which reads: “What’s Mine Is Yours.”
New signs also were put up in the industrial park here to promote lots for sale.
All of this signage was paid for 100 percent with federal dollars.
As well, the RRFDC has worked with New Gold staff on a pre-employment training application to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) for the advantaging of area First Nations and district residents, noted Gillon.
The RRFDC also has connected with New Gold to discuss housing opportunities in Fort Frances and Rainy River District, but primarily with a group of Emo developers looking into a 28-unit apartment complex there.
Tourism
The Fort Frances Tourist Information Centre re-opened this summer and its partnership with Sunset Country was stronger than ever.
They invested in new displays, fish and a moose, and signage, and are in the process of installing panoramas on the walls.
“It’s a very sharp facility,” said Gillon, adding it leaves a good impression on tourists who stop there.
He noted the centre had two extra special guests this summer: Ontario Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell and NHL defenceman Duncan Keith of the Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks.
“It’s nice place to bring them to show them the community and Northwest Ontario,” said Gillon.
“I really would encourage anybody in the town to stop into the tourist information [centre] next May and take a look at the facility,” he added.
“We’ve invested a lot of money with our partner, Sunset Country, and it looks very, very good.”
The RRFDC hired three students to work at the tourist centre, which was open from May to November.
They assisted 1,600 visitors by providing information, and also provided washrooms, photo ops, and brochures to about three times more visitors.
The local tourist centre will continue to remain active on all the town’s social media platforms (it currently has 867 followers on Twitter and 400-plus on Facebook).
The RRFDC also has installed tourism signage on Highway 53 in Minnesota, and at the border, promoting visits to the tourism centre and the moose there.
In related news, the RRFDC also started a digital marketing program.
It is advertising the town’s revamped website using Google ad words, and the Fort Frances Times has provided analysis of the website’s economic development portion and improved the visitor’s experience.
RRFDC also has advertised the “Boundless” videos using Facebook.
This process has provided the RRFDC with low-cost solutions to reach new viewers and tell the town’s unique story to the world.
‘Harmony of Nations’
The RRFDC and “Harmony of Nations” Music Festival committee will need to thoroughly review the event this winter.
The second-annual festival, which ran here July 17-18, included acts such as Rik Emmett, Tom Wilson, and Ashley MacIsaac.
While the event was well-attended, attendance was not to the level which organizers anticipated.
The event also did not draw a significant number of visitors from outside the region.
On a brighter note, “Go Local” is starting its third year with more than 4,000 cards in circulation .
Participating businesses have awarded more than 1.2 million “Go Local” points.
As well, some $60,000 in gift cards have been given out to loyalty members—money which ultimately has been returned to the pockets of local businesses.
Meanwhile, the RRFDC continues to assist the Assisted Living Action Group in its efforts to develop an assisted-living facility in Fort Frances.
It also continues to work with a group of seniors’ support agencies to evaluate the potential for Fort Frances accessing a provincial grant for Age Friendly Community Planning for 2016.
Finally, the RRFDC is continuing its work with the two agricultural consortiums—one for land clearing and one for tile drainage.
The tile drainage project is almost complete, with more than 1,900 acres tiled this past summer and fall.
Meanwhile, the participants of the first land clearing project are moving ahead with their clearing and the RRFDC has made its first claim to the NOHFC.
The RRFDC has been approved for a second tile drainage project, which will see an additional 1,942 acres of land tiled.
It also is working on submitting a proposal for a second land clearing project for next spring.
The first tile drainage project resulted in yields of canola up to 53 bushels an acre (this was up from 23).
