Adjustment funds set up to assist Elliot Lake businesses

A pair of funds worth $2.2 million has been set up by the province to help business owners and workers who have been affected by last month’s roof collapse at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake.

The province announced a two-year, $2-million business continuity fund for the city, which will be administered through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. It is designed to help affected businesses reopen in temporary locations and get mall employees back to work as soon as possible. It will also support economic development projects and help impacted businesses find permanent homes.

The city and its economic development partners will receive an additional $50,000 to support mid- to long-term initiatives that will create jobs, grow the business community and strengthen the economy.

“The community of Elliot Lake is known for its resilience in the face of serious challenges and as part of the healing process, will focus on dealing with the economic impacts resulting from this heartbreaking event,” Northern Development Minister Rick Bartolucci said in a news release. “I am pleased that the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund is able to act quickly to help address a number of pressing short-term issues that will help Elliot Lake residents move forward.”

A temporary provincial economic revitalization office is being set up in the community, through which Ministry of Northern Development and Mines staff will work closely with other provincial ministries, the municipality, local businesses and other stakeholders toward economic recovery.

In addition, a community adjustment fund, which has been signed between the province and the City of Elliot Lake, outlines a long-term recovery plan for business owners, service employers and employees.

The community adjustment agreement has been approved for one year, for the amount of $264,050, and came into effect July 9.

Community adjustment occurs in situations in which a larger work place closes, or when layoffs have broader, more adverse effects on a local economy.

"Working together with the Ontario government, we'll help employers and workers who lost their places of work because of the collapse of the Algo Centre Mall rebuild," Elliot Lake Mayor Rick Hamilton said in a release.