Economic Development Partnership Program and

Festivals and Special Events Program -

1998 Allocations and Appeals

The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee recommends the adoption of the recommendation in the following transmittal letter (June 11, 1998) from the Municipal Grants Review Committee:

Recommendation:

The Municipal Grants Review Committee on June 11, 1998, recommended to the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee, and Council, the adoption of the attached reports (May 21 and June 8, 1998) from the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism respecting the Economic Development Partnership Program and Festivals and Special Events Program - 1998 Allocations and Appeals.

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(Report dated May 21, 1998, addressed to theMunicipal Grants Review Committee from the Commissioner ofEconomic Development, Culture and Tourism)

Purpose:

This report seeks approval for the Economic Development Partnership Program and the Festivals and Special Events Program grant allocations with a combined total of $379,000.00. The report provides an overview of both programs, a description of the rationale and strategy applied and a listing of the recommended allocations.

Funding Implications:

The allocations recommended in this report fall within the Council-approved 1998 Municipal Grants budget of $45,160,000.00.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) Economic Development Partnership Program grants totalling $294,000.00 be allocated to 14 organizations, as set out in Appendix 1; (2)the disbursement of the Economic Development Partnership Program allocations be conditional on satisfying the Economic Development Partnership Program Guidelines (Appendix 4) and on project specific conditions set out in Appendix 3;

(3)Festivals and Special Events Program grants totalling $32,550.00 be allocated to six organizations, also as set out in Appendix 1;

(4) $51,950.00 be set aside for the Economic Development Partnership Program's allocation process in the Fall (application deadline date: September 11, 1998); and

(5)the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Background:

This report deals with two separate grants programs - the Economic Development Partnership Program, which comes from the former City of Toronto and the Festivals and Special Events Program which comes from the former City of York. Both programs were identified and combined for administrative purposes during the budgetary reporting process and both continue to be administered in 1998 by Economic Development staff at the City of Toronto. Both programs will be subject to a policy and program criteria review in 1998 which will have an effect on the programs in 1999. The criteria for both grant programs are based on former City policies. Since this year is a transitional year, no requests were sought from the other former Cities within the new City of Toronto.

Overview of the Economic Development Partnership Program and the Festivals and Special Events Program:

(a)Economic Development Partnership Program:

Applications for funding are accepted three times a year. The goal of the Economic Development Partnership Program is to facilitate the initiation or expansion of projects which will have substantial long term economic development benefits for the City of Toronto by contributing to the size of the local economy and/or to the generation of future economic growth and job creation. Projects funded in the past include: Canadian Music Week; Caravan; Festival of the Future; First Night; Moving the Economy - Sustainable Transportation Conference; ICSID - The Humane Village Congress, Gay Pride Week Economic Impact Study and many others. At least $50,000.00 of the total program budget has been reserved each year for new or one time only initiatives. City Council of the former City of Toronto recommended that for 1998, at least $30,000.00 of the program budget be used for developing and implementing local economic development projects in the cultural, tourism, food, sustainable transportation and/or green tourism industry sectors. Two projects for which allocations totalling $30,000.00 have been recommended as part of this report, fall within this category. For 1998, events and project being considered for funding have to be located within the boundaries of the former City of Toronto. Applications for grants from the Economic Development Partnership Program were received on February 6 and April 24, 1998 and reviewed in a manner consistent with the Program guidelines. The Program has a third and final application deadline of September 11, 1998.

(b)Festivals and Special Events Program:

The Festival and Special Events Grant Program began in 1995 with the purpose of supporting local festivals and special events that would create local community economic development benefits, build volunteer commitment and develop strong organizational structures and financial support. As part of this Program, festivals and special events were also viewed by staff as important tools in rejuvenating commercial and residential districts by attracting visitors to these areas, developing these areas as tourist destinations and instilling pride. Since the program began in 1995 eight festivals and special events have been supported by means of the program budget for over $70,000.00. Together these festivals and events have matched the contribution by successfully leveraging funding from private agencies including in-kind services and over 2,500 hours of volunteer support, attracting approximately 135,000 visitors. For 1998 the program will continue to fund festivals and special events located from within the boundaries of the former City of York. In past years deadlines have been set to coincide with approvals being made at the final Council meeting before summer break. This year Program applications were reviewed by the Festivals and Special Events Liaison Team on May 16, 1998, in a manner consistent with Program guidelines. No additional funding applications will be received for the Festivals and Special Events Program in 1998.

Method of Assessment:

Under the Economic Development Partnership Program developmental projects are eligible for ongoing support for a maximum of five years, with the maximum support in the fourth and fifth year set at 50 percent and 25 percent respectively of the level of support provided in the third year. Projects are also funded on a one time only basis. The organizations applying for support can be either a non-profit organization (incorporated or unincorporated) or a private business. Support for initiatives being undertaken by private businesses must take the form of a purchase of a sponsorship or advertisement which provides the City with a commensurate service or benefit. The program emphasis is on supporting the incubation and development of new initiatives which will substantially impact the local economy. Priority has been given to projects which lead to sustainable long term economic and employment benefits for the City; which have a good potential to become self-sustaining within the five year time frame of the program; and which involve substantive partnerships with the private sector.

Organizations applying for ongoing support in 1998 had to provide a report on the project which included financial statements, a discussion of the activities undertaken and an evaluation of the project which addresses the extent to which the City's economic development objectives were met.

In past years, applications were reviewed and recommendations made by a sub-committee of a Committee of the former City of Toronto Council. This year, applications have been reviewed internally by staff following a similar allocation strategy.

The program has three application deadlines to permit projects to be dealt with during the course of the year. The third and final deadline in 1998 is September 11. This group of applicants will be brought forward to the Grants Review Committee in October, and it's recommended that $51,950.00 of the budget be reserved to fund them.

The Festivals and Special Events Grant Program makes funding available to organizations initiating or carrying out ongoing festivals and special events. Organizations applying for funding can be a non-profit (incorporated or unincorporated) or a private businesses. However, many of the festivals and special events funded or recommended for funding have been through community-based organizations. The program supports festivals and special events that have the capability to display community economic development benefits, strong volunteer involvement and organizational structure and solid event financing with private sector support. In past years, applicants have been evaluated by an Interdepartment Festival and Special Events Liaison Team with recommendations forwarded to the Administrative Services Committee and final decisions made by the Council of the former City of York. This year, the Interdepartment Festivals and Special Events Liaison Team reviewed applications using the same program criteria. Its funding recommendations will be forwarded to the Municipal Grants Review Committee. A report establishing the Festivals and Special Events Grant Program and guidelines is available through the Clerk's office.

Conclusions:

The combined 1998 budgets for the Economic Development Partnership Program and the Festivals and Special Events Program was approved by Council at $379,000.00.

The following information is appended to this report:

(1) recommended allocation of 1998 Economic Development Partnership Program and Festivals and Special Events Program grants (Appendix 1);

(2) summary of 1998 applications and recommendations to date (Appendices 2 and 3); and

(3)Economic Development Partnership Program guidelines.

This report seeks approval for the 1998 Economic Development Partnership Program and the Festivals and Special Events Program allocations totalling $318,550.00 and requests the opportunity to return to the Municipal Grants Committee with recommendations regarding allocations for the final round of Economic Development Partnership Program applicants further to the final application deadline of September 11, 1998.

Contact Names:

Helen BulatRon Nash

Economic Development Partnership ProgramFestivals and Special Events Program

Toronto City Hall Office (392-7355)York Civic Centre (394-2889)

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 Appendix 1

198 Economic Development Partnership Program and

Festivals And Special Events Program Allocations

 Applicant 19971998 1988

AllocationRequestRecommended

 Economic Development Partnership Program:

 1. Contact

Photography

Association - Business

Forum & Photography

Incubator-$35,000.00 $20,000.00

 2.Riverdale Community

Business Centre -

Tourism

Marketing Initiative- 25,000.0010,000.00

 3.Heritage Skills

Development Centre/

Co-op Bakery Project- 26,500.0020,000.00

 4.Beaches International

Jazz Festival/Economic

Impact & Marketing

Study- 70,000.0015,000.00

 5.Festival Alliance

Toronto Project - 20,000.0020,000.00

 6.Canadian Aboriginal Festival20,000.00 50,000.0020,000.00

 7.Short Film Festival20,000.00 30,000.0015,000.00

 8.Street Style/Leading-

Edge Fashion, Arts

and Music Festival50,000.00 50,000.00 50,000.00

 9.Toronto International

Film Festival50,000.00 50,000.0050,000.00

 10.Cinematheque25,000.00 25,000.0020,000.00

 11.Toronto Theatre

Alliance/T.o.tix 16,000.00 16,000.0016,000.00

 12.Tabia Marketing

Project25,000.00 25,000.0025,000.00

 13.Toronto Tourism

Awards 5,000.00 5,000.00 $5,000.00

 14.Caribana 8,500.00 8,500.00 approved

 Festivals And Special Events Program:

 15.African Culture

Restoration

Association-Annual

Marcus Garvey

Day Celebration - 13,728.00 2,000.00

 16.Urban Harvest

Community

Association -

Urban Harvest

Oakwood Village

Festival Of The Arts 5,500.00 9,000.00 5,000.00

 17.Weston BIA - Weston

End Of Summer Blast 5,000.00 10,000.00 4,500.00

18. Portuguese Outreach

Committee - Portuguese

Youth Festival 5,358.00 8,500.00 4,850.00

 19.York Children's

Carnival Committee -

Eglinton Junior

Carnival Parade13,200.00 15,000.00 11,200.00

 20.Weston Bia -

Weston Santa

Claus Parade$5,500.00$10,000.00 $5,000.00

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 Appendix 2

1998 Economic Development Partnership Program and Festivals

And Special Events Program Budget Status

Incorporating Recommendations Of This Report

(A copy of each of Appendices 3 and 4 referred to in the foregoing report was forwarded to all Members of Council with the agenda of the Municipal Grants Review Committee for its meeting on June 1, 1998, and a copy thereof is on file in the office of the City Clerk.)

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(Report dated June 8, 1998, addressed to the Municipal Grants Review Committee, from the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism)

Purpose:

This report addresses one of the recommendations adopted by the Municipal Grants Review Committee at their meeting of June 1, 1998, requesting that the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism report on providing an additional $4,000.00 on a pro-rated basis to those groups listed under AYork Festivals@ and that the event dates be included with the report.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that applicants for Festivals and Special Events Grants listed in the report of May 21, 1998, not receive an additional $4,000.00 on a pro-rated basis.

Funding Implications:

There are no further funding implications associated with this report based on the recommendation.

Background:

The Festivals and Special Events Liaison Team met on May 15, 1998, to review six applications within the former City of York for financial assistance under the Festivals and Special Events Grant Program. As part of the process, a Festivals and Special Events Liaison Team consisting of staff from the former City of York was set-up in 1995 to review applications for funding and to provide recommendations to Council regarding funding and in-kind services.

On the basis of the Festivals and Special Events Liaison Team review, it was recommended in the report of May 21, 1998, that all six applicants to the program receive grant funding. This recommendation was based on the purpose of the grant being to provide "seed" funding to community organizers of festivals and events so that organizers could use such leverage to secure additional funding from sponsors and to commit in-kind contributions and volunteer support. The aim of the Festivals and Special Events Grant Program is to develop, within these community based organizations, a growing level of self sufficiency and buy-in from sponsors.

 Festivals and Special Events 1998

Funding Requested, Recommended and Event Date

Conclusions:

While the Festivals and Special Events Liaison Team does not recommend additional funding on a pro-rated basis, it does support funding at levels recommended in the May 21, 1998, report entitled Economic Development Partnership Program and Festivals and Special Events Program - 1998 Allocations.

Contact Name:

Ron Nash, York Civic Centre, Tel: 394-2889.