Councillors and staff from all over Wellington gathered in the county council chambers here on April 20 hear a plea for a united effort on economic development.
Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj began the meeting by letting everyone know nothing had been decided. She said she was “excited about launching something; we have no idea what it will be.”
The purpose of the meeting is to “share ideas” so the county can “define what we are” and determine what is the best way to attract economic activity, the warden explained.
County councillor Chris White said, “The marketplace is changing and there is a lot of competition around us.”
He said many areas are using websites to shape their economic goals.
White emphasized that all the municipalities would “go into this as equal partners,” knowing the county has more resources than local municipalities and can therefore help everyone.
“If something is in the wind, we want to be at the table,” White said.
He added the county must define “who we are, what skills we have” and what transportation networks companies can use.
“Then, define what we want to go after,” White said. “The County of Wellington is a great place to live.”
Jana Reichert, of the Waterloo Wellington Community Futures Development Corporation based in Elora, provided a huge list of statistics from the most recent census and other data her group has collected.
She said the population in the county is growing and recent surveys show employers believe the worst of the recession is over, but they are still being careful.
She congratulated Wellington on achieving an AA credit rating, the highest for a county in Ontario, and explained Wellington’s significant and evolving industries are:
– agriculture: 4,335 jobs, with another 2,285 in food manufacturing, and average farm income at $47,292;
– manufacturing: 9,415 jobs in transportation, equipment manufacturing with an average income of $54,349, and transportation equipment manufacturing and warehousing with 9,545 jobs and an average income of $55,273; and
– professional, scientific, technical and grouped services with 23,620 jobs and an average income of $56,777.
The greatest growth has been in the small and medium sized businesses, those that are flexible and creative enough to prove strong through the downturn.
Reichert said, “We have a rich heritage in agriculture and distinctive capacity to research our own food, grow it, harvest it and process it.”
Industry is labeled as evolving because local growth has exceeded provincial growth.
Reichert noted that Waterloo Region, Stratford, Huron, and Perth are the new tourism partners for the county, and said Perth County already has a business profile and its planning is done. She also said its work is on the web for prospective companies seeking a place to build. Web sites, she added, should change every 18 months.
She said the county must be able to immediately provide such information as infrastructure, an economic profile, demographics of the population, quality of life data, and who lives and works in the county. She warned, “Economic development takes time. It doesn’t always provide immediate results.”
White said all the councils will need to attract growth so they can wean themselves off residential taxpayers for their revenue.
Centre Wellington Economic Development officer Dave Rushton said such planning is “about prosperity.” That means employers paying taxes, paying salaries, and buying goods and services, with employees paying taxes and buying goods and services.
He said it is good if a lot of money enters the community “from the outside.” Tourism is people spending money who drove 40km to get there.
He said some companies, when recently scouting for locations for factories and businesses, were not looking at communities, but rather, places like Michigan, New York State, and Southwestern Ontario. He said Wellington can attract some of those businesses by working together and being ready for them when they come looking.
Rushton noted in Wellington County there was $188-million spend by people making 2.25-million visits, which created 3,610 jobs, and aided 2,235 tourism related businesses.
He added economic development has no borders. Promotional literature this year included Holstein, outside the county, but “It brings a huge number of people to Wellington North.” He said some industries and professionals the county could attract include veterinary specialists because of the huge number of horses in Wellington, plus culinary and equine tourism, trails, and festivals and events.
The question is, who creates the infrastructure and the local markets, who works with the retailers, who applies for grants to support economic development, and who works on regional tourism.
He said some outsiders thought Guelph looked after Wellington County’s tourism, so the county must consider who creates the county’s tourism products and who creates county marketing programs.
White agreed, “Tourism is a large piece of this.”
County councillor Rod Finnie said the county has not ‘utilized the three area universities very well. “If we’re not doing it, maybe nobody else is either.”
Councillor Dave Anderson said the local municipalities can take on smaller projects, but, “We need to market as a group.”
Councillor Barb McKay noted that ten years ago, former Wellington North Mayor Don Ross had said if each municipality has its its own economic development division, they will be strong enough to take away jobs from each other.
She said the county had an opportunity to join the “technology triangle” several years ago and didn’t, and now, looking at the Region of Waterloo, “I think we lost a real opportunity there.”
She said top salaried people want great places to live, and Wellington County can provide those.
White concluded there is a huge task in front of all the officials, and he hopes everyone will approach it “on an equal basis.
Currently the officials on the committee include:
– Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj;
– Mayor Chris White;
– Andrea Ravensdale, Wellington County;
– Dale Small, Wellington North;
– Donna Jack, Wellington North;
– Belinda Wick-Graham, Minto;
– Deb Dalziel, Centre Wellington;
– Dave Rushton, Centre Wellington;
– Brenda Law, Puslinch
– Janice Sheppard, Guelph-Eramosa;
– Lisa Hass, Erin; and
– Patty Sinnamon, Mapleton.
There is also a chance the committee will be expanded as the work load increases.
