At last night’s (January 30) meeting of Peterborough City Council, councillors voted to invest $300,000 in VentureNorth — the business hub in the former Promenade Building at King and George Street in downtown Peterborough.
The funding will be provided to the not-for-profit Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster between now and the end of 2018 to assist in the operational costs of the entrepreneurial portion of VentureNorth. The funds will not be used for building renovations or by the private investors.
VentureNorth is owned by Paul Bennett (president of Ashburhnam Realty), Mike D’Alessandro (co-founder of Park Place Financial and Farmlife), Robert Gauvreau (president of Gauvreau & Associates CPA), and Cameron Taylor (CEO of OUTDOORsmart! and BOATsmart!).
Public partners in VentureNorth include the Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster, Peterborough Economic Development, Start-Up Peterborough, Junior Achievement, and Fleming College.
The Innovation Cluster’s space will include a 10,000-square-foot business incubator, which has capacity to hold 40 to 50 client companies and will feature office space, two smaller meeting rooms, open common areas, shared kitchen space, a large boardroom, and a copy and print area. Renovations are expected to be completed in early February.
The Innovation Cluster will use the funding from the City of Peterborough in part to subsidize the rental costs for innovation and technology start-ups accepted into the business incubator, so those entrepreneurs can focus initial financial investment on other aspects of building their companies. The funds will also be used to expand training programs for entrepreneuers.
“This funding will allow for the Innovation Cluster to focus on what we do best and help entrepreneurs in Peterborough and the Kawarthas,” says Michael Skinner, President and CEO of the Innovation Cluster.
The $300,000 in funds provided to the Innovation Cluster is in addition to the $950,000 the City of Peterborough will provide in 2017 to Peterborough Economic Development to help attract businesses to Peterborough.
