Profiles of Capital Providers

Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives

Contact

Leo Prince
Director
Economic Development Initiatives
204-945-2427
E-mail: leo.prince@gov.mb.ca
Web site: www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture

Department Divisions

The Agri-Food and Rural Development
provides leadership and resources to accelerate initiatives that will create new employment opportunities and capital investment that anchors sustainable communities. Financial and professional support is also supplied to economically viable projects in partnership with communities, municipal governments, local and regional community development organizations, entrepreneurs, businesses, cooperatives, and youth organizations.

Economy and Rural Development Knowledge Centre
is aimed at developing and sustaining a dynamic, and viable rural and northern Manitoba and to provide leadership in the areas of economy and rural development. The Economy and Rural Development Knowledge Centre is located in Brandon and is comprised of two sections.

The Farm and Rural Champion
section’s focus is development of the individual and community capacity and environment for economic growth to take place in the process of renewal toward a viable and sustainable rural and northern Manitoba.

The Business and Rural Development
section focuses on increasing the prevalence of value-added processing, the growing of new businesses and the fostering of entrepreneurship in rural Manitoba.  Another focus is to work to maintain and enhance existing rural businesses.

The Food Commercialization and Marketing Knowledge Centre
provides services to MAFRI staff, producers, food processors and organizations in order to strengthen the competitive position of Manitoba’s agriculture and agri-food industry in the global marketplace.

Program Areas

Manitoba Agriventures Initiatives (MAVI)
MAVI made assistance available to facilitate industry development and business ventures that  create new uses for agricultural products, add value, and develop new markets for agricultural commodities and food production in Manitoba.

Feasibility Studies Program
This program assisted rural businesses, co-ops, community development corporations, and municipalities to access research and planning for potentially new or expanding projects that contribute to community prosperity, including the creation of jobs. The program provides support on a cost sharing basis of up to 50% to a maximum of $25,000.

Rural Entrepreneur Assistance Program (REA)
In 2006/07 this program provided loan guarantees of up to $100,000 to full-time, small and home-based operations in rural Manitoba for business start-ups or expansions through participating financial institutions. Most financial institutions in Manitoba participated in the program. The program is administered by the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation. The loan limit was raised to $200,000 effective April 1, 2007.

Community Works Loan Program
This program provided cost-shared funding to participating Community Development Corporations (CDC) allowing them to establish revolving capital pools that support new or expanding small businesses with loans of up to $10,000.00. These micro loans fill a gap by supporting businesses that would not normally have access to assistance through traditional lending institutions.

The Community Enterprise Development Tax Credit (CEDTC)
The program provided an opportunity for Manitobans to invest in their own community while offering community enterprises access to capital for start-up costs or expansions.