Chamber of Commerce – Jobs

The Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce and Ontario Chamber of Commerce say… 63 percent of businesses in Ontario that are looking to grow face a talent shortage.

The chamber issued a report today identifying barriers to business growth in the province.

It conducted a survey and found entrepreneurs aren’t scaling up their businesses because of a lack of access to the right talent, gaps in the right kind of financing and lower government incentive programs.

Kingston Chamber of Commerce CEO Martin Sherris says too many great ideas get caught in the cloud of regulation and lack of funding.

Development – Brownfield

A vacant lot on Montreal Street may become a commercial business development in Kingston.

Kingston city council has approved the sale of the former Cohen and Sons Property to PNHD Developments.

The company established by Ben Pilon and Jason Hurd will have five years to cleanup and develop the polluted property.

The city seized the property on Montreal Street for back taxes and is selling it for $5,000.  It is also selling unopened road allowances for Fraser and Duff Streets to the developer for $10,000.

Fire – Hartington

A barn on Quarry Road in Hartington has been destroyed by fire.

The fire broke out yesterday afternoon at the farm near Highway 38.

There were no animals in the barn and no injuries were reported.

There’s no word on what caused the fire.

Cigarette Bust

An early morning RIDE check on Highway 38 at Westport Road has resulted in the seizure of thousands of illegal cigarettes and the arrest of two men.

Frontenac OPP say a van that stopped at the RIDE check at 1am yesterday contained 100 large boxes of unmarked cigarettes with an approximate street value of $70,000.

A 72 year old man and a 70 year old man have been charged with possession of unmarked cigarettes and have a court date in Sharbot Lake in September.

Pitch In Day

Tomorrow is Earth Day and people in Kingston will be cleaning up the city.

Sustainable Kingston says over 2,000 have registered through their website…www.sustainablekingston.ca

All Tim Hortons locations in Kingston will be distributing bags for the cleanup between 7am and 9am.

Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen has announced he’ll be gathering with volunteers to cleanup Victoria Park at 1pm tomorrow.

Key Performance Indicators

St. Lawrence College President Glenn Vollebregt says the college is extremely proud to be ranked as one of the top colleges in Ontario in the annual Key Performance Indicators results.

St. Lawrence rated above the provincial average for Graduate Employment, Graduate Satisfaction, Student Satisfaction and Employer Satisfaction.

Festival Money

The 2016 edition of Fort Fright this fall is getting a grant of just over $66,000 from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

Artfest Kingston this July is also getting a Celebrate Ontario grant of $29,760

Next year’s Kingston Canadian Film Festival is getting $33,750.