Adding to the varied lineup of their supports that empower local businesses, Community Futures Peterborough (CFP) is marking the first graduating cohort of a new program that was adapted to meet the needs of displaced workers in the city and county of Peterborough transitioning to entrepreneurship.
The free NEXT (New Entrepreneurial eXploration Training) program was designed to help local workers who were affected by high-profile mass layoffs by giving them the tools, resources, confidence, and financial support to become entrepreneurs — keeping those workers and their families in the city and county of Peterborough so they can continue to contribute to the local economy.
“We realized a barrier to displaced workers pursuing entrepreneurship is that it’s a scary time when finances aren’t in place,” says CFP Executive Director Devon Girard. “By running this program and providing grant dollars to participants upon program completion, our goal was to encourage people to not only try entrepreneurship but to have confidence in knowing they can pursue it.”
Peterborough County backs NEXT program
Peterborough County supported the NEXT program by providing funding for the design, development, and delivery of the program.
“Peterborough County is proud to support the NEXT program because we believe in the transformative power of entrepreneurship,” says Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark, thanking CFP for successfully delivering the first graduating cohort of six new entrepreneurs.
“Their achievements demonstrate the strength of this program and the resilience of the participants who embraced this moment of transition as a time for growth, creativity, and independence,” she adds.
“When individuals face the challenge of job loss, they deserve meaningful opportunities to rebuild confidence, explore new directions, and shape their own future. NEXT provides exactly that — practical training, one-on-one guidance, and the encouragement people need to turn their experience and passions into viable business ventures.”
Community Futures Peterborough responds to overwhelming interest in NEXT program
The original intent of the NEXT program was to provide on-site training at local companies that announced layoffs.
However, immediately after the program was announced, a steady stream of displaced workers in the community reached out to CFP, asking if they could be eligible for the program. Due to the overwhelming amount of interest, CFP quickly redesigned the program so workers from various workplaces could participate in a single cohort, which opened for applications in December.
“I’m really proud of the team at Community Futures Peterborough that we were able to respond to the needs of our community and created a cohort quite quickly,” says Girard. “We had to prioritize what our community was telling us. It wasn’t the intention of how the program was designed to be run, but it was responding to direct need of people from the community reaching out to us.”
Workshops and one-on-one mentorship guide NEXT participants toward self-employment
The cohort of budding entrepreneurs participated in five in-class workshops led by experts who provided them with the tools to launch their business.
Paired with one-on-one consultations, participants identified their transferable skills and studied fundamental topics like marketing and branding, business plan development, budget forecasts and pitching, with structured deliverables required every step of the way.
“We work a lot with entrepreneurs on learning how to actually operate their business,” says CFP Entrepreneurship Officer Allison Adam.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a service-based or product-based business or a combination of the two, learning those fundamental entrepreneurship skills — business planning, marketing, and cash flow forecasting — applies to all of them. Having a very diverse range of businesses really showed how the program was designed with the right foundations needed to run and grow a business.”
NEXT program graduate launches bookkeeping business with new skills and support
NEXT program participant Lori Alexander used the program to launch her bookkeeping business, ALT Accounting Services, and says the knowledge she gained from the program experts was invaluable.
“Each person within Community Futures has their own expertise in their own field and they take their time with you one-on-one,” she says. “They give you the confidence and the information that you need to be able to move forward. With that information, it just makes you feel like you can take on the world.”
Upon program competition, Alexander and the other graduates each earned a $1,000 grant to help launch their business, a conditional pre-approved microloan from CFP, and a six-month trial membership with the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.
These supports helped Alexander launch a social media presence and website, create branding and business cards, purchase a computer, and develop a business plan-all of which she says would not have been possible without the program. She adds that one of the greatest benefits of participating in the program is knowing she will continue to have the support of CFP and Peterborough County as she grows her business.
“I’m deeply grateful to Community Futures Peterborough and Peterborough County for all their support with this program and for everything they’ve done,” she says. “I’m very grateful that they are now a part of my life and a part of my business. I can grow and know that I have someone to back me up.”
For her part, Adam says that Alexander’s growth throughout the NEXT program embodies the spirit of the entire cohort of entrepreneurs, who all showed enthusiasm and dedication to learning and growing their business.
“Every week they came back with new questions or a small win or proud moments that they had uncovered over the week,” says Adam. “We love to see that curiosity and willingness to learn and collaborate in entrepreneurs. That’s what we saw throughout this program.”
NEXT program expanding to support Siemens workers facing layoffs
Continuing to respond to the needs of workers in response to mass layoffs, CFP will soon be delivering the NEXT program to employees of Siemens Canada who are interested in self-employment. Last June, Siemens announced that it would be moving its Peterborough manufacturing operation to Concord, affecting around 160 jobs over two years. CFP is working with the team at Siemens to structure the cohorts and program delivery.
“Through this process and the response we got, we have recognized the importance of maintaining capacity to always be able to respond when our community needs us,” Girard says. “I’m proud of how quickly we could respond and pull together this program and I am proud that we will continue to do this work.”
Girard notes that the NEXT program would not have been possible without the support of Peterborough County and local economic development organizations who continue to respond to needs in the business community.
“We’re just really happy to do our role in keeping workers and families in our community,” says Girard. “We’re one of many agencies who play a role at a time like this. We simply want entrepreneurship to be an option for people to explore, and we want people to know that we’re here and we have programs and expert services to support them on that journey if they want to pursue it.”
This branded editorial was created in partnership with Community Futures Peterborough. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.
