Business

Boise Inc. will temporarily idle two of its paper machines in response to a decline in orders, which may result in layoffs of some employees.
Bob Anderson, Boise public affairs manager, said yesterday that employees had been recently notified of the changing schedules.
“There could be some layoffs as a result, however we have a higher than normal demand for vacations at this time of year because of deer season,” Anderson said. “We can’t tell if anyone will be laid off at this point.”

The Ontario government has cut more than $250,000 in funding for the local public and separate school boards—money that normally would go towards school repairs and upgrades.
The cuts come as Queen’s Park searches for places to reduce expenses in the face of economic troubles and a projected deficit of about $500 million.
For the Rainy River District School Board, some $190,000 has been cut from its capital renewal funds.

Financial relief is on the distant horizon for municipalities across the province after the Ontario government announced plans last week to “upload” costs for both Ontario Works benefits and court security costs.
The announcement came after an agreement between the province, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), and the City of Toronto, and follows the final report issued as part of the Provincial-Municipal Fiscal and Service Delivery Review.

Despite a drop in visiting tourists, some local businesses still had a good summer season thanks to a number of construction projects, including the bio-mass boiler, the new youth detention facility, and repairs to roads and the Noden Causeway.
While motorists may not have liked the congestion, detours, and delays, the owners of places like Gartch’s International Pub, the Makabi Inn, Mid-Town Motel, and La Place Rendez-Vous certainly weren’t complaining.

District businesses will be in the spotlight next Saturday (Nov. 8) for the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s 13th-annual business awards, presented by Bell.
Chamber manager Dawn Booth said organizers are gearing up for the gala, which will be held at La Place Rendz-Vous.
“It’s going to be great, it’s going to be lots of fun,” she enthused. “We have Fort Frances Little Theatre coming and they’re going to do skits throughout the night.
“It’s going to be awesome, it’s going to be hilarious entertainment.

Entitled “Our Vision . . . Our Future . . . Our Town,” council approved the town’s corporate strategic plan at Monday night’s meeting, setting an ambitious number of goals for the Town of Fort Frances to strive towards in the next two years and beyond.

Some residents in the Emo Road area were disappointed by town council’s decision to approve a zoning bylaw amendment in their neighbourhood Monday night—and plan to take the matter to the Ontario Municipal Board.
Council voted in favour of rezoning property at 1345 Emo Rd. from institutional to multi-residential (Residential Type Four, or R4) so local resident Dave Petsnick could convert the former United Pentecostal Church into a three-unit apartment complex, as well as permit the construction of an additional complex at some point down the road.

In further effort to promote Fort Frances as a place to invest in, live in, and visit as a tourist, local economic development officer Geoff Gillon unveiled a new economic development plan to town council at its regular meeting Monday evening.
The plan is a follow-up from this past spring, when the town and Rainy River Future Development Corp. submitted an application to FedNor to fund a three-year economic development strategy.
In September, FedNor approved the application and now will match funds put forth by the town to pursue economic development strategies.

The Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce unveiled its 2008 Business Retention and Expansion report yesterday, outlining the opinions of 86 local businesses that participated in a survey over the past year and the resulting action plan that hopefully helps build a better tomorrow for them.

With the official deadline to nominate a deserving individual or business for the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s annual business awards having come and gone yesterday, organizers are looking for people to act fast and submit more nominees in three award categories.
Chamber manager Dawn Booth said this morning she received a total of 72 nominations listing 60 different nominees in 11 different categories. However, she would like to have at least three nominees in each category, and a few of those have come up short.