A Rural Creative Economies Summit held in the Town of Minto attracted over 70 registrants from across Ontario.
The three-day event, Oct. 22 to 24, was based at Pike Lake Golf Centre and featured speakers from across the province and beyond, including keynote speaker Ken Coates, who came from Saskatoon for the conference.
Coates, the Canada research chair in regional innovation for the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, spoke on ways small towns can capitalize on the potential of the 21st Century.
Coates’ message – that the starting point to fighting the trend toward mass urbanization is to develop a new and creative approach to small town economic development by recapturing and promoting the positive attributes of life in smaller communities – resonated well with those in attendance.
“He was phenomenal. He was absolutely amazing,” said Minto business and economic development coordinator Mandy Jones.
She said the rural focus was what made this summit unique.
“This is the first rural creative economy summit,” she said, noting similar events held in urban centres tend to focus on opportunities available primarily in larger municipalities.
“It’s really hard to translate that back into a rural community,” she noted.
Minto treasurer Gordon Duff said some of the 73 registrants at the seminar came from as far as three hours away. Locally, Wellington County, Wellington North and Mapleton all sent two delegates to the event.
Two delegates from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport were also on hand said Duff, noting, “They got to see their grant money at work.”
In an email to the town, Sonja Erstic, a regional advisor for the ministry stated, “Congratulations once again on presenting such a fabulous learning event … it truly was impressive. Guest speakers were engaging, the format was excellent and not a detail missed.”
In addition to seminars, roundtables and panel discussions, summit attendees also had the opportunity to enjoy a cultural experience, including a tour of Wesley Bates’ art studio in Clifford, the Norgan Theatre and Railway Heritage Park in Palmerston, and a preview performance of the Grey Wellington Theatre Guild production of Ebenezer at the Harriston Town Hall Theatre.
A $1,000 grant from the county’s Taste Real program provided a mini Savour the Flavours of Minto culinary experience as well.
Jones said numerous positive comments were received from attendees, including one participant who commented “Best summit ever – great job.”
Duff said the municipality was able to host the summit at no cost to local taxpayers by using a portion of a $39,000 grant from the province’s Creative Communities Prosperity Fund (CCPF) and registration fees to cover costs.
CCPF funds were also used to fund research into the town’s creative industry incubator project and a series of videos telling stories of innovation in Minto that were presented at the summit.
“Minto has become the poster child for rural economic development excellence in southwestern Ontario. There is much we can learn from the Town of Minto,” said economic development and marketing consultant Linda Reader, who worked on a marketing plan for the video series.
Despite the success of the event, Duff said the municipality doesn’t have any plans to host any further summits at this time.
The availability of grant funding, Duff noted, allowed the municipality to stage this summit and “the hope is that some other municipalities pick up the ball and have their own summit” in future years.
