On September 14, 2022, the interim Executive Director of the Northern Ontario Black Economic Empowerment Program (NOBEEP) attended the Community Futures of Northeastern Ontario (CFNEO) Fall Conference in North Bay, Ontario. NOBEEP would like to thank the organizing committee of the fall conference for inviting us to make a presentation to your members.
During the event, the interim Director of NOBEEP provided an overview of the Afro-Heritage Association of Sudbury (AHAS) and its relationship to the NOBEEP. NOBEEP is governed by a governance-oriented Board of Directors of the Afro Heritage Association Sudbury. The interim Director also provided an overview of the staff employed at NOBEEP and acknowledged the staff’s contributions to the program’s success.
The Interim Director provided an overview of the black entrepreneurship program, emphasizing the national ecosystem fund. The NOBEEP initiative is supported through the black entrepreneurship programs’ national ecosystem fund. FedNor staff were also at this meeting; NOBEEP emphasized the need for continuity planning for NOBEEP beyond the initial funding period. NOBEEP values include a focus on people, knowledge, and prosperity. We recognize these values as being essential to a wealth creation mindset.
Further, the CFNEOs were informed of NOBEEP’s position to support the growth and scale-up of black-owned businesses in Northern Ontario. NOBEEP offers bilingual services and closes the gap that is a barrier for black entrepreneurs to contribute more equally to the mainstream Northern Ontario economy.
NOBEEP plans to hire four full-time equivalents and achieve a 50-50 gender balance and a 50-50 bilingual representation by the end of the currently funded program. Nobeep program will have an executive director, program and office manager, a program and events coordinator, and an office administrator. For the program to operate effectively, it has secured a third-party financial controller who will fulfill all accounting requirements. The NOBEEP program will also onboard internships for various duties.
NOBEEP will conduct workshops and training seminars, attend business trade shows, offer one-on-one consulting services, attend conferences and networking events, attend individual activities that promote the NOBEEP program and host an annual general meeting.
NOBEEP has organized itself to offer services to five key ecosystem segments.
1.0 CLIENTS
Clients are people or organizations that want to get help from NOBEEP. Most clients will be expected to be black entrepreneurs or organizations looking to service black clients. NOBEEP asked CFDC’s to assist in whatever capacity to help NOBEEP secure clients.
2.0 PARTNERS
The next group that NOBEEP welcomes is our partners. The people or organizations that want to partner with us for service delivery and support services. The CFNEO was invited to partner with NOBEEP. NOBEEP emphasized the need for partnerships with measurable work and action plans associated with engagement.
3.0 SPONSORS
The next group that NOBEEP welcomes is our sponsors. Sponsors are people or organizations that want to provide NOBEEP with financial resources. The interim Director emphasized that the current contract between NOBEEP and the Federal Government does not allow for redistribution of funds. This means NOBEEP is not in a position to offer microloans. NOBEEP has currently identified a requirement to provide entrepreneurs with microloans. We asked the CFNEO to assist NOBEEP in creating and securing a microloan fund – the NOBEEP FUND.
4.0 MENTORS
The next group that NOBEEP works with is Mentors. Mentors are people that want to join a confidential mentorship network. The CFNEO was asked by NOBEEP to help secure mentors.
5.0 VOLUNTEERS
The fifth group NOBEEP wants to work with are volunteers. Volunteers are people willing to offer support and help on a needed basis. The CFNEO were asked by NOBEEP to help secure volunteers and for themselves to become NOBEEP volunteers.
We provided the CFNEO with NOBEEP statistics up to September 12, 2022. These statistics included ten businesses identified, twelve walking inquiries, two phone call inquiries, three inquiries turned into recognized companies, eight website-based questions, seven partner intakes, five volunteer intakes, 17 client intakes, three mentor intakes, and one hundred and sixty-eight total engagements that received the NOBEEP newsletter issue 1.0.
NOBEEP requested help from the CFNEO in the commissioning of two studies. The first study is a Northern Ontario capacity delivery gap analysis to assess the capacity development services for Black people in Northern Ontario. The second study is a demographic research project that will depict the social-economic profile of Black people in Northern Ontario.
In closing, speaking to the Community Futures of Northeastern Ontario (CFNEO), NOBEEP was able to leverage the investments that the Government of Canada is making in advancing economic development in Northern Ontario.
