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In 2021, the Future Oxford Legacy Fund provided $125,000 in loans to support local businesses and another $8,695 in grants to support sustainable community and regional opportunities aligned with theFuture Oxford Community Sustainability Plan. As a direct result of this funding, six jobs were created or maintained within Oxford County.

The Future Oxford Legacy Fund provides funding in two streams: Access to Capital, which provides low-interest loans for entrepreneurial activities, and Community Development Support, which offers non-repayable loans to not-for-profit projects.

In the Access to Capital stream, Future Oxford provided loans to Spectrum Tropicals Inc., a tropical flower business that relocated from Florida to Norwich to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and Raymer Group Inc., an agriculture resource company based out of Tavistock and Woodstock.

In the Community Development Support stream, Future Oxford approved funding to Cycles of Life Supportive Transitional Living to increase food at its three Community Outreach Tables, supporting those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. Funding also supported the rainbow crosswalk installation by Oxford County Pride in downtown Woodstock and the Shop Local holiday campaign by Supporting Oxford.

Since its inception in 2016, the Future Oxford Legacy Fund has created and maintained more than 168 jobs and disbursed $698,613 in loans and $29,130 in grants. The fund is a partnership between Future Oxford, Community Futures Oxford and Oxford County.

More details about this year’s Future Oxford Legacy Fund recipients are available online in Impact Report 2021. To apply to the Future Oxford Legacy Fund, visit www.cfoxford.ca.

Applications to either the Community Development Support or the Access to Capital stream must demonstrate a sustainable business model and an alignment to the environment, economy and community “pillars” of the Future Oxford Community Sustainability Plan. For more information about Future Oxford, visit www.futureoxford.ca.
 

Background

The Future Oxford Legacy Fund considers projects and initiatives that sustain our community, economy and environment. This includes but is not limited to projects that support affordable clean energy, responsible consumption and production, life on land, innovation and infrastructure, economic growth, poverty reduction, gender equality, and good health and well-being.

Future Oxford disperses funds in two streams:

Community Development Support (grants)

This stream offers non-repayable loans to not-for-profit initiatives that align with sustainable actions as defined by the three pillars of the Future Oxford Community Sustainability Plan. Applications are accepted in two intakes, once in the spring and again in the fall. This year there is up to $10,000 in funding available in the grant stream.

Access to Capital (loans)

The “Access to Capital” stream provides funding for entrepreneurial activities with an emphasis on youth opportunities, arts and culture, tourism, high-tech manufacturing, and green technology. Successful applicants, including private businesses, can receive financing of up to $100,000 through a repayable loan with flexible repayment terms. Community Futures Oxford administers the fund. Applications are accepted year-round.

A multi-criteria assessment tool is used to determine if requests for funding and investment meet the goals, objectives and targets of the Future Oxford Community Sustainability Plan. The tool uses a weighted “sustainability scorecard” to assess or compare community, economic and environmental factors.
 

About Future Oxford

Future Oxford presents a vision to foster and maintain a high quality of life throughout Oxford. It is a vision that inspires community members to explore and expand the potential to improve quality of life for Oxford’s current and future generations. The Future Oxford: A Community Sustainability Plan is the plan for how the community will achieve this vision. The plan is guided by the Future Oxford Collective, a group of volunteers and partners who are advancing the Future Oxford Community Sustainability Plan through collaboration, education and promotion. For more information and to read the Plan online, visit www.futureoxford.ca.

About Community Futures Oxford

Community Futures Oxford is one of 60 Community Futures Development Corporations in Ontario and 269 across Canada. With financial assistance from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, Community Futures Oxford provides access to capital, delivers programs and services to assist small businesses, and support community economic development in Oxford County.