The Innovation Guelph Fuel Injection Seed Funding Program supports business scale-up projects of start-ups and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in southern Ontario. Fuel Injection facilitates enterprise growth through generation of new jobs & revenue; attraction of follow-on private investment; the launch of new products or services; and cost savings through energy, water or waste innovations. Through this program, Innovation Guelph provides specialized industry business advisory services and seed funding to innovative enterprises in the following sectors: manufacturing; sustainable technologies; agriculture/agri-food; and social innovation.

According to the 2018 EmployerOne Survey, 79% of manufacturing related businesses are expecting to hire over the next 12 months and the area will have to deliver a workforce that is willing to take on these roles. However, many people still believe that all manufacturing is dark, dirty, dangerous and that jobs are poorly paid.

88% of manufacturers who completed our 2017 EmployerOne Survey indicated that they had separations - 72% of these were quits (see chart below). Our 2018 EmployerOne Survey shows that 75% of manufacturers also had positions that were hard to fill sighting not enough applicants, lack of motivation, lack of qualifications, lack of work experience and lack of technical skills as the top 5 reasons for these hiring difficulties. This survey also showed that 83% of employers rated the availability of skilled workers as fair to poor (compared to 17% rated at good to excellent).