Tecumseh Community Development Corporation offers financial support to local Indigenous-led businesses during pandemic
By Colin Graf
AAMJIWNAANG FIRST NATION— The Tecumseh Community Development Corporation is continuing to offer financial pandemic support to Indigenous-led businesses across southwestern Ontario even after distributing over $1 million in federal aid loans in the last year.
Tecumseh, an economic development funding agency serving 10 First Nations across the region, recently received $460,000 from the Trudeau government to help businesses cover operating costs affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to maintain jobs. The money is a top-up to funding first announced in May 2020, bringing the total allocated to $1,454,888, according to information provided by Tecumseh.
Out of that amount, the organization has distributed $1,250,000 in liquidity support to help 26 Indigenous businesses impacted by the pandemic and preserve 170 jobs. Businesses can qualify for loans up to $40,000, with $10,000 forgivable, according to terms announced last year. Staff at Tecumseh help with business loans and advice for 10 First Nations and urban First Nations people across the southwest and Bruce Peninsula.
“[The funds] help to make the changes and upgrade required equipment to continue operating through the COVID 19 pandemic,” said Phyllis George, Tecumseh’s General Manager.
The funds have helped clients “pivot into a different way to survive through business strategies and adaptation,” she added.
According to conditions announced last year, the loans will be interest-free, and 25 per cent of the total, up to $10,000, will be forgiven provided the recipient has paid 75 percent of the original loan by December 31, 2022. The full balance must be repaid by no later than December 31, 2025.
Businesses in cities such as London, Windsor, and Sarnia can also apply to Tecumseh for the loans, even if the First Nations owners are not members of the nations typically served by the corporation, George said in a 2020 interview. Métis people are also included, she said. First Nations served by Tecumseh are Caldwell, Walpole Island, Delaware Nation (Moraviantown), Aamjiwnaang, Kettle & Stony Point, Oneida of the Thames, Chippewa of the Thames, Munsee Delaware Nation, Saugeen, and Nawash.
The manager of the Cape Croker Park on the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula, Nathan Keeshig, is relieved to have been able to access the money.
“Our business has experienced a tremendous decline in earned revenue from our campground and our maple syrup operations,” says Keeshig. “The [loan] has allowed us to maintain our operations at reduced levels of service and to keep minimum staffing levels. I am so very grateful for the support and coaching I have received from staff at [Tecumseh] during this extremely stressful time.”
The loaned money has helped The Leaky Tank restaurant, alongside of a truck route through Aamjiwnaang and Sarnia’s Chemical Valley, “to continue serving home-cooked food, just like you’d find at grandma’s house,” according to the Tecumseh news release. The release also notes that the restaurant had been struggling to remain open and profitable in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Leaky Tank’s owner Sherry Stewart said the loaned money has been a help, but she has only spent part of it as the potential level of debt is a concern.
“I bought some refrigeration equipment we needed,” noted Stewart, adding that she is keeping the rest of it in the bank for now. “With all these lockdowns, I never know when I can be open.”
Stewart fears being forced to close her business and still having to repay the $40,000.
“The businesses, workers, and organizations in southern Ontario’s rural communities are a significant part of our region’s economic strength. We know they have faced challenges as a result of the pandemic and it is reassuring to see the local support that our CFDCs (Community Futures Development Corporations) have delivered is making a difference for many of them,” says London West M.P. Kate Young, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development.
CFDCs such as Tecumseh deliver a wide variety of programs and services to support community economic development and small business growth. They employ local staff and are each governed by a volunteer board of directors, made up of local residents representing the community.