The 2010 Northern Networks Conference, coordinated by The Town of Fort Frances and the RRFDC and sponsored by FedNor and NOHFC was held at La Place Rendezvous on September 15 & 16th. With over 120 delegates from Northwestern Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Manitoba in attendance, it was deemed a huge success by organizers, Geoff Gillon and Tannis Drysdale.
This year’s conference theme, “Local Solutions for a Sustainable Success” hosted nine keynote speakers, covering a variety of topics from bio mass energy to agriculture to economic development and First Nations.
The conference started with delegates participating in their choice of tours being offered, Fort Frances, A History and Future or the Agriculture Tour, From Field and Forest to Retail Market. Both tours were well attended and enjoyed by everyone.
That evening, during the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s reception, the Mayor’s welcome was delivered by Councillor Sharon Tibbs and a presentation on “Buy American: An Update” by Graham Rush, Consul & Senior Trade Commissioner of the Consulate General of Canada in Minneapolis followed. Delegates were then treated to an appetizing fish fry dinner that was prepared from local foods, and a Farmers’ Market Booth was on display for selling local products.
Day two of the conference started with a panel of three biomass speakers, Adam Sherman/Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC), Lorne Morrow/CRIBE and John Howard/CORONA. Each gave a presentation about bio mass energy and the progresses being made on both a local and global scale. After they were finished presenting, there was a brief Q & A period, in which the speaker’s were able to answer questions from the audience, about their presentations.
The second half of the morning saw Terry Garrett from Sustaining Technologies, Sonoma, California give a presentation on providing effective tools to harness the power of local money and the economic multiplier for communities that are building vibrant and resilient local economies. He was then followed by Aime Dimatteo who was appointed Director General of FedNor in June 2010, who gave an informative presentation about FedNor, its delivery area, and program themes. Mr. Dimatteo spoke about FedNor being a regional development organization in Ontario that works with a variety of partners to help create an environment in which communities can thrive, businesses can grow, and people can prosper.
After lunch, keynote speaker Chief Clarence Louie of Osoyoos Indian Band in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, was introduced to the delegates by RRFDC Board Director, Russ Fortier, and started his presentation with a brief mini-documentary about how his organization and First Nation has used economic development to improve his people’s standard of living. His message, through humor and wisdom, was to encourage business development and partnership with First Nations.
The afternoon’s theme, Supporting Local Foods, highlighted the topic of local foods and local food sales with another panel of three speakers, David Abazs/Round River Farm, Donna Lowey/Lowey’s Greenhouse and Market Gardens, and David Dumke/Wisconsin Farmers’ Market. Each was able to answer questions from the audience and provide information about local foods in their region.
The conference then concluded with a local foods dinner, prepared by local chef Todd Moxham of Cater 2 U, at Sunny Cove Camp. The dinner consisted of a variety of appetizers made with local foods provided by District producers and Minnesota and Wisconsin producers. It was set out around the hall at various “tasting” stations that delegates could sample. Fresh linen, cut flowers, and lit white candle votives adorned the tables within the hall, while piano music was provided by entertainer Al Andrusco of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who took song requests from the participants.
Many delegates from all over were very impressed by this year’s conference and gave exceptional positive feedback about the speakers, conference topics, and networking opportunities, but all would agree that the abundance and quality of the local foods that were served during the event was definitely the highlight of the two day conference.
Conference Agenda
Presentation by Adam Sherman, BERC
Presentation by Lorne Morrow, CRIBE
Presentation by John Howard, Coronal
Presentation by Terry Garrett, Sustaining Technologies
Presentation by Aime Dimatteo, FedNor
Presentation by David Abazs, Round River Farm
608 Scott Street
Fort Frances, Ontario P9A 1H6
Tel: 1-807-274-3276 or Toll Free: 1-800-465-8502
Fax: 1-807-274-6989
info@rrdc.on.ca
