Lecours Motor Sales expands with help from Community Futures Development Corp.

Timmins -

When Ford Motor Company put the pressure on Lecours Motor Sales to upgrade its image at its dealership in Hearst, and an opportunity emerged to acquire the Ford dealership in Kapuskasing, the Lecours Family needed some financial help.

“By having the North Claybelt and Nord-Aski (Community Futures Development Corporations) help us out, we were able to have a complete solution," said Jean Lecours.

The company secured a loan from the Community Futures Northeastern Ontario program to construct the new building in Hearst.

Officials with Nord-Aski Regional Economic Development Corporation said the program works much like a bank, but offers greater flexibility.

“We do a lot of these sort of loans ... it can be with the Caisse Populaire, could be CIBC, Scotiabank, any other financial institution that may step into a project like this and then so we can act like a partner in that, as well," said Gilles Matko, executive director of Nord-Aski Regional Development Corporation.

Lecours said it's a program that can make all the difference in helping businesses grow.

“It should be actually one of the first places that a business should ... consider and discuss with before considering any loans," said Lecours.

"What’s difficult is that banks usually traditionally look at a mortgage and this is where the business development can come in and provide more than just funding to buy a building -- but expansion. Really, that’s what the key is here.”

Since Lecours Motor Sales established its new building Hearst and its new business in Kapuskasing, it has experienced more growth, including the addition of a new company that rents and services rail trucks.

Its employee list has also gone from less than a dozen to around 45.

Nord-Aski Regional Economic Development Corporation officials said despite the pandemic, they're seeing more requests come in as the rate of businesses changing hands and or being passed on to their children is increasing and loans are required to buy things like new equipment.