SMART Grants to Ontario Manufacturers
Is the Ontario government looking for the next Henry Ford?
We were introduced a few weeks ago to an interesting government grant available to Ontario manufacturers. It’s designed to help fund productivity improvements to allow manufacturers compete more efficiently in the Global economy.
This program is clearly a win for small to medium sized Ontario manufacturers faced with recessionary times and increased competitive pressures.
This post outlines some of the features of this program that may interest a reader to explore the finer details on the SMART website (which can be found at www.http://www.cme-smart.ca/).
The funding for this program is provided by the government of Ontario and administered by the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) trade association. You don’t need to be a member of this association to apply. The SMART grant is intended for projects that have a primary focus on improving operational efficiency that can be fully implemented within 6 months from the application date (meaning the program is not designed for lengthy or complicated projects).
To be eligble for a SMART grant your business must satisify the following criteria.
- It must be manufacturing in Ontario
- It must have at least two years of operating history
- You must employ 10 to 500 people
The grant covers one half of the project cost to a maximum of $50,000. Approved businesses must initially fund 100% of the cost of their projects, then wait to receive their SMART grant money.
This money has some strings attached: grant recipients have up to 6 months after project completion to report back follow up measurements to see if expected productivity improvements were achieved.
While well intentioned, this program doesn’t go far enough to help Ontario’s beleaguered manufacturing sector. The $50,000 maximum and 6 month project limitation means that only small, short term projects may qualify. Major productivity improvements typically cost a lot more than $100,000, and if companies were having difficulty funding these projects before, its even worse now given the current financial crisis out there. The 500 employee limitation also means that Ontario’s big manufacturers aren’t eligible for the program at all!
If you have experience with the program already, please share your experiences by posting your comments here. We’d love to hear from you.
If you need help determining whether your project may qualify, please contact us at compass@macgillivray.com . We can also assist with the reporting requirements at project completion.
David Straughan
Cherie Hruska
As an applicant of the “SMART” program I am very thankful for this program and programs like these. It seems that the government is trying to lend a hand in this upcoming economic downturn, even if it may be too little too late. While they have excluded some of the larger manufacturers, by limiting this grant to companies of less than 500 employees, it would seem to me that the larger companies have “voices” that can be heard and this is a way to help the little guy.
I would advise anybody that is planning on applying to the program to go to one of the seminars that are being held all over Ontario. These seminars do have some helpful hints on filling out the very government like application!! Yes be sure to set aside a few days of your time to fill out this mammoth and (in my opinion) quite repetitive online application.
If $50,000 isn’t nearly enough for your companies needs it can be supplemented by the Yves-Landry foundation who are also offering grants of up to $50,000 for any kind of training. Good luck to all those who apply and again Kudos to the government for trying to help the “little guy”
I attended a seminar held in Brampton last week and it was indeed very informative. Know that this particular program is capped at $25,000,000 in funding and you have until May 2009 to submit an application. The average grant to date is $40K. My simple brain tells me from the math above that this grant will help some 600+ companies, so you better get you applications in soon. BTW – if you participate in their energy audit they will waive the $1,000 assessment fee.
The SMART program certainly might help a number of small- to mid-sized manufacturers with shop-floor productivity. For this, I think the Ontario government deserves some kudos. Unfortunately, however, this program, like all others I know of, fails to address the issue of overall business performance and the effectiveness of the management structure.
Most likely, millions of dollars will be spent on productivity improvement in businesses that, in spite of the financial assistance, will fail to perform because of their lack of focus, poor strategy and so-so execution. This will be the proverbial “throwing good money after bad”.
If only someone (and I can’t think of anyone other than the government) would step up to issue of organization effectiveness, and provide funding for those enterprises that truly want to change how they operate.
To clarify on some of the above comments:
1. The $50,000 funding limit (matching funds – the CME will match the approved payout by the manufacturer) is PER SITE. For multi-site manufacturers, the maximum is $50,000 times the number of manufacturing locations in Ontario.
2. Yves Landry funding is for training related to the introduction of innovative processes or technology and such. It does not cover “generic” skills training or management training, etc. However, the application process is MUCH simpler from what I can see, versus CME/SMART. Since many productivity improvement projects will have a process/technology training component, it makes sense to explore both funding avenues. (But no double dipping, of course.)
Richard, thank you for your comments. I couldn’t agree with you more – it is so essential that people focus attention on improving the effectiveness of their organizations if they are truly going to improve business performance.