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City received $150,000 Christmas present

City Council announced at Monday Night’s meeting that they received $150,000 in funding to help immigrants interested in moving to Canada – mainly North Bay and Sudbury – find businesses they can buy and take over, or start anew.
City Council announced at Monday Night’s meeting that they received $150,000 in funding to help immigrants interested in moving to Canada – mainly North Bay and Sudbury – find businesses they can buy and take over, or start anew.

The project is being dubbed the “Business/Immigration attraction initiative”.

“It will kind of be like a match-maker service,” Councillor Mike Anthony said of the program. “There will be some computer aspects to it, but also some screening of applicants and interested parties.”

Anthony said the idea is to get immigrants who want to invest in a business or looking to start a business.

“This $150,000 will be used to market North Bay,” Anthony said. “And our Sister-City, Sudbury -- that was part of the package as well.”

This will help the two cities with job-retention, as well as job creation.

“Job-retention is job number one,” Anthony said. “You have to keep the businesses you have and try and help them stay healthy.”

Anthony said with this program, instead of a business closing its doors when the proprietor wants to retire, someone with the financial backing can come in and purchase it and help it thrive.

“It’s a pretty neat program,” Anthony said. “Now we can get it off the ground for 2010.”