FedDev Ontario and the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters’ (CME) SMART Prosperity Now initiative provides a crucial source of funding for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve the productivity of their manufacturing facility and expand their reach into global markets. With $40 million dollars in funding, SMART Prosperity Now strives to help Southern Ontario manufacturers deal with productivity issues and create jobs in order to build a stronger manufacturing base in the province.
As the leading Canadian manufacturer of braided rope and cordage products, Atlantic Braids, with customers in the marine, agricultural and theatrical business, received $32,000 through the SMART initiative to fund the replacement of their outdated equipment with high-tech rope machinery. The new equipment has allowed the company to increase their productivity by over 150% as well as create 3 new jobs and retain one position. As a result, Atlantic Braid has been able to meet customer’s demands by providing the product to them sooner.
To date, over 434 SMEs have received funding through the SMART Prosperity Now initiative, which has resulted in the creation of 1,800 new jobs and the retention of over 5,000 jobs in Southern Ontario. The SMART Prosperity Now Initiative is ensuring that manufacturing companies are receiving the necessary business funding to take advantage of global opportunities.
Continuous improvement in manufacturing is vital to help our businesses continue to grow and stay competitive in the global market. Have you thought about implementing changes to make your manufacturing process more lean? Are you working towards improving the quality of the product you manufacture? What about reducing a negative impact you may have on our environment? While these are great projects to implement, sometimes we don’t always have the funds available to actually do so.
That’s where the CME SMART Funding Program comes in.
The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters group (CME) created the CME SMART Program with funding provided by the government of Ontario. This program was created to help small to medium sized manufacturers in Ontario improve efficiency and productivity to better compete in the global market.
How do they do this? They help fund projects that implement changes to improve your operational efficiency. These projects could include lean manufacturing and/or design, environmental impact reduction, IT best practices, quality improvement and energy efficiency. These projects should hopefully not just increase your efficiency but would change the way you do business, as well as reduce or eliminate waste (both wasted time and wasted materials) and phase out mistakes and non-value-added activities.
After getting approval from CME for the funding, these projects must be started within 2 months of your notification of selection from the CME, and should not take longer than 6 months to implement.
How much do they fund? The best projects proposed to the CME SMART Program get selected for funding, and you can receive either 50% of your project costs, or $50,000 – whichever is less.
Who is eligible? Companies with 10-500 employees that have their manufacturing operations in Ontario are eligible for the CME SMART Program. These companies would have to have been in operation in Ontario for at least two years.
Northbridge Consultants is a service provider for the CME SMART Program. We can provide you with SMART Assessments and help you implement these programs.
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