Barrie's Sandbox Centre is getting a load of financial sand put into it.
The Ontario government is investing $1 million in a new Regional Innovation Centre, with the Sandbox Centre winning the location title.
A media event was held on Tuesday morning to make the funding announcement official, and included in attendance were Andrea Khanjin, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Barrie-Innisfil, Doug Downey, MPP for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, and Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall.
"This is a really unique space," Nuttall told Barrie 360 about the facility located above the downtown bus terminal at 24 Maple Avenue.
"It's everything from being able to have your business gatherings or maybe it's a not-for-profit gathering. It's looking for mentorship from others who've been in the same situations. So, it's everything from workspace to mentorship and entrepreneurship all in one place and that's only going to grow now that we have the Regional Innovation Centre calling this home."
Barrie's News Delivered To Your Inbox
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Central Ontario Broadcasting, 431 Huronia Rd, Barrie, Ontario, CA, https://www.cobroadcasting.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
MPP Khanjin, who many touted at the event as the driving force behind acquiring the provincial funding, spoke with Barrie 360 as well, noting the want for more locality.
"The real goal here is to use the talent we have here, increase that talent, increase jobs and opportunity in our region," Khanjin explained. "Have more people stay and live here, and our region can thrive and our economy can grow."
Nuttall acknowledged that growth, saying he's seen it over the last 15 months.
"We have been able to announce housing projects coming here, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $6.5 million from the province, we have Lakehead University coming into this space. One of the big factors for that is it wanted to work with the Sandbox Centre and the Regional Innovation Centre when it came," said Nuttall.
"Tons of output, tons of community improvements, support for businesses and certainly we want to push it and encourage it and make sure that as host cities, we are able to propel it forward. One piece of it is to make sure that every businessperson, every entrepreneur, every person ... understands that the help and support is here, that the Sandbox Centre is here, that the Regional Innovation Centre is here."
The new centre in Barrie is the 18th Regional Innovation Centre in the province.
Programming and services are offered to clients who are typically in early-stage or growing innovation and technology companies with the potential to expand and succeed on a global scale.
For information about the Regional Innovation Centres, click here.
And for more about the Sandbox Centre, click here.
- With files from the City of Barrie
