FedNor Minister Tony Clement came to Thunder Bay Feb. 19 bearing gifts.

Thunder Bay International Airports Authority received more than $1.5 million for ongoing expansion of its airport industrial park.

The PARO Centre of Women's Enterprise received $1.5 million to continue delivering its series of workshops, training sessions, coaching, and mentoring activities to budding women entrepreneurs. The centre has a pan-Northern approach geared specifically to Aboriginal and francophone women.

The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre received nearly $740,000 to establish an advanced manufacturing and development lab involving Confederation College and Kam Valley Industries, and to establish an information and communications network to help small business with e-business solutions.

Qwan Technologies received a $180,000 “conditionally repayable FedNor contribution” to develop a software management software system to enable caseworkers better analyze data, speed up client evaluations, and develop treatment strategies for autistic children.

XLV Diagnostics pocketed a similar $500,000 “repayable contribution” to build a low-cost, digital mammography device. The medical device company will use the money to hire the brains needed to develop a prototype to be marketed globally after clinical trials.