Over $3.8-million is going to Thunder Bay-area businesses to help them stay safe during the pandemic.

Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry Greg Rickford made the announcement on Friday.

He explains it’s part of the short-term Northern Ontario Recovery Program funding, which is part of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.

“We wanted to develop a program that would enable job creators and small businesses to tackle financial and operational challenges posed by COVID-19 and put them on a good footing moving forward,” Rickford says.

The investment includes $25,000 for the Best Western Plus Nor’Wester to buy personal protective equipment, safety equipment, and computer hardware and software for virtual meetings.

Sean Murray is the President and CEO of Canada West Maple Products, which got $23,130 through the program.

He says the support was a big help when the maple industry was hit hard by COVID-19, and allowed them to pivot to online sales at a time when they were unable to sell in-person.

“We had to actually move into a whole new facility that was just for ourselves, so we used the NORP funding and a lot of sweat equity to make a new facility in under three or four months,” he explains.

Applications for the fund were open until late November 2020.