Our Mission
Our mission is to help launch and develop new businesses and industries in Huron County, helping to expand and diversify our community’s economy.
Community Futures Huron (CFH) is a non-profit Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
Every year, we at CFH help new businesses get off the ground. Key emerging business opportunities include agriculture, renewable energy, manufacturing, tourism, retail services, and the creative economy.
CFDCs offer a wide variety of programs and services supporting community economic development and small business growth.
CFH has been helping entrepreneurs make their futures in Huron County since 1993. This goal is achieved by providing management counselling, business loans, and support for community projects that strengthen the local economy.
Community Futures Program
The Community Futures Program is a Government of Canada initiative which supports 61 Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) in Ontario— FedDev Ontario works with the 37 CFDCs in rural Eastern and Southern Ontario, while FedNor works with the 24 organizations in the North.
These community-based, not-for-profit organizations are staffed by professionals and are each governed by local volunteer boards of directors familiar with their communities’ needs, concerns and future development priorities.
In particular, they provide:
- Strategic community planning and socio-economic development;
- Support for community-based projects;
- Business information and planning services;
- Access to capital for small- and medium-sized businesses and social enterprises.
Over 30 years of community investment
Over the past 30 years, Community Futures has helped more than 120,000 entrepreneurs, created and maintained more than 495,800 jobs, and invested more than $4.2 billion directly into Canada’s rural economy, leveraging more than $8 billion in additional investment. Today, Community Futures is driven by more that 3, 415 volunteers and 1,400 staff in 269 offices across Canada.
For more information about the Community Futures program, please read the following handout prepared by the Community Futures Network of Canada or visit one of the following websites.