The most important issue in the recent election was job creation through economic growth. This is because we….. like every other community have suffered an economic setback in the past few years. From January of 2003 to today we have lost over 1,000 jobs in the town of Cobourg….Timing is everything and through my experience on the Economic Development Committee and the Northam Industrial Park Committee I know we are entering a rebuilding phase and we need to do everything possible to ensure we are riding the crest of the rebuilding wave. Economic growth and new jobs boost the spending cycle and stimulate the local economy resulting in reduced residential taxes which in turn frees up more money to feed back into the community.
I am proposing a seven point economic development plan of action.
- A Mayor’s Business Relation Team
- The Branding of Cobourg
- A Specialty Training Centre
- Targeting Emerging Industries
- A Green Plan for Northam Industrial Park
- Downtown Business
- A Business Social Media Strategy
1. Mayor’s Business Relations Team
Starting with a Mayor’s Business Relations Team, I am proposing a Mayor’s Business Relations Team which would consist of the Mayor, member of Council, business stakeholders in our community andsenior staff in applicable departments.
Under this enhanced plan, team members will continue to visit local firms with one main purpose in mind: to establish a comfortable link between the individual business and Town Hall which will act as a conduit for the flow of information between the Town and the business community. We want our businesses to feel that they have a dedicated representative at Town Hall: that the business community has a voice that will be listened to, a place where its concerns will be noted and acted upon.
One of the key benefits of these meetings and site visits will be to take a “proactive rather than reactive” approach to helping established business create and retain local jobs.
2. The Branding of Cobourg
Moving on to the “branding of Cobourg” we must have a strong strategy for the “branding of Cobourg” to attract new business. It is important that Cobourg be seen as a “First Choice Destination” in Eastern Ontario for smaller scale speciality manufacturing. As Mayor I will be working closely with the Town and County Economic Development Departments to develop strategies to ensure that Cobourg is seen as a centre for niche market manufacturing and processes.. We will build on the excellence of home grown successful industries like Brochot/Limpact and Horizon’s Plastics, Spoolon to name but a few. We need to be sure that we have a solid marketing strategy to showcase the Town as an emerging hub for niche market manufacturing.
3. Specialty Training Centre
We need to create a specialty training centre and as Mayor I will be pursuing strong partnerships to help establish a local speciality training facility to engage in “small scale speciality training” for new emerging green enterprises like lighting and water. This Centre would train potential employees in either manufacturing or sales for these new emerging green technologies providing hands on experience in the products. I would like to see this Centre developed in partnership with a local higher education facility.
4. Targeting Emerging Industries
The targeting of emerging industries is essential and we need to focus our attraction efforts on specific industry sectors which have growth potential, recognizing new and emerging technologies benefitting from the effects of free trade, international trade and Canada’s economic evolution. In Cobourg we are blessed with a skilled labour force that supports these initiatives.
The target businesses would include: high technology enterprises; businesses requiring a highly trained skilled labour force; service industries and tourism related industries. These types of businesses provide higher paying job prospects and stronger job security and also provide opportunities for our young people to work in after getting their college or university educations. It is certainly an area that provincial and federal governments will support financially.
5. Green Plan for Northam Industrial Park
As Mayor I want to see completion of a large solar energy foot print on the vast roof systems amongst the existing factories. I will be pushing for a co-generation energy plan for our Industrial Park as well. This co-generation project will supply electrical backup for the new community centre and a cheaper supply of electricity for Northam Industrial Park tenants. This will generate huge operational savings on energy costs as we move to “time of use rates”. Additionally it will continue to showcase the town of Cobourg as a leader in green energy development in Eastern Ontario.
6. Downtown Business
As Mayor I want to see a vibrant downtown centre as the “heart” of Cobourg. There is not a person that visits Cobourg, tourist, business people, visitors that don’t experience downtown Cobourg, so we need to continue to look at ways to strengthen the downtown core and work with the DBIA in their ongoing efforts to enhance downtown business attraction and retention strategies. The DBIA is collection of small businesses and small businesses are a key component of our local economy so we need to also give them a high level of support.
7. Business Social Media Strategy
We must ensure that the town is using all available social media tools that are applicable as part of an overall marketing strategy for the Town from economic development to Tourism. We need to fully utilize all the e-technology tools available to us such as Facebook and Youtube. It is imperative we take advantage of today’s global connectivity. Increasingly governments, business and the majority of people are globally connected to the web for instant information and communication and decision making.