July 10, 2009
This initiative, established in 2003, created a committee of 16 elected and/or appointed individuals from five municipalities in South Simcoe, the County of Simcoe and Nottawasaga Futures for the purposes of maintaining and sustaining existing businesses and developing new business opportunities in a coordinated, non-competitive format. In addition, the South Simcoe Economic Alliance is dedicated to building community capacity to ensure the investment readiness of the region. This committee has proceeded in a thoughtful, strategic manner to achieve their successes to date.
The most innovative aspect of this initiative is that the five participating municipalities have come together in a non-competitive environment to support investment into the region and innovative business retention initiatives. These municipalities would normally be aggressively competing for funding dollars. However, they have fully embraced the concept that investment in any of their municipalities brings economic and social benefit to all of the area municipalities. As a united voice, the South Simcoe Economic Alliance has been able to forge partnerships with Foreign Affairs/International Trade Canada, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the County of Simcoe.
Industrial lands have been expanded into industrial parks and additional lands are being considered to accommodate future commercial/industrial growth. Significant investment has been achieved through the addition of the Honda Engine Plant (350 jobs), MAPCAN Aluminum Plant (50 jobs), Simcoe Parts Service Expansion (est. 50 jobs), Poravor (50 jobs), Joe Johnson Equipment Ltd. (40 jobs), Royal Woodworking Ltd. (60 jobs), to name a few, all within the last five years.
With the increase in local employment opportunities, residential and commercial growth has kept pace. Populations in the four South Simcoe municipalities have grown in excess of the provincial average from Census 2001 to Census 2006 and the growth continues. Smart Centres have located developments in two of the municipalities as result of this growth.
For more information, contact:
Valerie Ryan
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