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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-03-26, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015. County Ec. Dev. Board, HBDC may pool resources Education never stops says Royall Time to count Peter Mennie, magician extraordinaire, was at Memorial Hall in Blyth on Saturday bringing his children’s show Abra- Kid-Abra to dozens of area children. Here, he uses playing cards, and a touch of magic, to help kids learn how to count. (Shawn Loughlin photo) The newly-established Huron County Economic Development Board and the Huron Business Development Corporation (HBDC) have agreed to support one another in their efforts to better the county. At the March 18 Huron County Council committee of the whole meeting, HBDC Past-President Rick Hundey spoke to councillors, asking them to endorse a request for $3 million from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Economic Development on behalf of the Western Ontario Community Futures Development Association. In addition to asking for council’s moral support of the application, Hundey also made several other recommendations, including the pooling of resources in order to “increase the range and impact of economic development programs and services” in Huron County. Councillors were very open to the idea, citing a number of positive projects HBDC has been involved with over the years. Hundey also suggested that perhaps HBDC, with its years of experience, could be brought on as a not-for-profit partner to make application requests. The group could also pass along a short list of its most promising opportunities to the Economic Development Board going forward. Hundey said that he and the other people involved with HBDC have been “very encouraged” by the steps being taken by Huron County to help foster economic development in the county. He said that the HBDC would be able to provide knowledge and expertise, but doesn’t have quite as much to offer on the monetary side of things. He said that while HBDC has been able to tap into government resources when it comes to business loans, as far as economic development is concerned, the organization is “kind of poor” when it comes to money. Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Orchard said that she saw the proposal as a partnership, but that further consultation would have to take place. Central Huron Deputy-Mayor Dave Jewitt was concerned that a partnership with HBDC could “water down” the pool of money, but Hundey assured Jewitt that’s not what the partnership would be about – it would be about leveraging funds to access more grant money from upper tiers of government. Bluewater Mayor Tyler Hessel agreed that it was a good idea, but suggested that consultation between HBDC and the Economic Development Board officially occur before any decisions were made. Council then made two motions: the first provided moral support to HBDC’s $3 million funding application and the second set up a meeting between the Economic Development Board and HBDC to discuss the potential partnership and how it would work before returning to council for further direction. Both motions were approved. Continued from page 16 that? Because I know that when people meet together throughout the week in a small group community to learn from God, they grow closer to the Lord and they grow closer to one another. What thrills me is how much pastoral care is done in these small groups. Instead of me, one pastor, trying to do pastoral care to 200 plus people in our church, we now have various members in small group communities ministering and helping each other. 5. “Healthy Churches emphasize corporate prayer and church prayer ministries.” I was ecstatic when I read this because on my last trip out the Southland Church this fact was really made clear to me. So much so that last Sunday night we held our first corporate prayer meeting called the Prayer Summit at Huron Chapel. We spent two hours as a church family praising God and praying together. Believe it or not…the time just flew by. I thought we could easily have only a handful people show up for our Prayer Summit. Typically, prayer meetings tend to only attract a small core group of people, but praise the Lord, half of the church showed up including youth and children. 6. “Churches that are healthy take membership seriously.” Rainer found that unhealthy churches seem to want to inflate their membership lists with little or no accountability for these members. 7. “The healthy churches are highly intentional about evangelism.” Rainer discovered that healthy churches tend to have ministries, programs and emphasis that lead members to reach out with the Gospel to their unchurch friends, family, coworkers, etc. So there you go. You are now a little better educated, as I am in some of the important insights of healthy churches. 273 Hamilton St., Blyth • 519-523-4590 www.blytheastsidedance.com Blyth East Side Dance Learn the Tango The Township of North Huron is hosting a Public Meeting to review Blyth Gardens and Flowers Thursday, March 26, 7 pm Everyone Welcome! For more info call Denise Lockie North Huron Recreation and Facilities 519-357-1208 ex35 Emergency Services Training Centre By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen #1 And We Still Try Harder! Recent circulation figures show The Citizen has the highest circulation in the northern part of Huron County, #3 in the entire county. The Citizen Proudly Community- Owned Since 1985 Entertainment StopsStopsStopsStopsStops a l o n g the wayalongtheway A VISITORS’ GUIDE TO HURON COUNTY stopsalonglakehuron.com Look for entertainment ideas on our Stops Along the Way website at... 430 Queen Street, Blyth, Ontario 226-523-9720 Specialty Coffees & Espresso Bar NATHAN CRAWFORD Live 12 noon - 2 pm March 28