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Dear Readers,
Once again we are pleased to present our economic development newsletter produced
on behalf of Elgin County Council and the Department of Community and Cultural Services.
There is much to tell you. We are excited to be working on a new tourism strategy,
an ambassador program, expanding our department’s resources, creating a workforce
development strategy and ongoing progress with the SCOR initiative.
But first – our latest award! We are very proud that Elgin County has won a national
award from the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) for the way we have
implemented our new economic development brand, “Progressive By Nature.”
The national award from EDAC builds on the two awards we received in February 2009
from the Economic Development Council of Ontario for our brand and attraction package.
Congratulations to the many people and organizations whose commitment to the unified
brand has made Elgin County stand out as a progressive place for business investment, and has increased the pride of Elgin residents and staff.
Our new Tourism Development Strategy and Marketing Plan has been unanimously approved by Elgin County Council. This five year plan is designed to enhance awareness of
local tourism opportunities, attract tourists,
tourism investments and jobs.
Attracting investment and jobs is one of the key components of the Ambassador Program.
We all succeed when we work together. This is your invitation to join our
emerging Ambassador Program as volunteers to increase awareness of our outstanding
business investment opportunities.
Members of the Ambassador Program will be given guidance and resources to promote
the benefits of being an Elgin business as they attend conferences and meet business
contacts in their day-to-day activities.
SCOR is leading the way in an exciting series of initiatives to stimulate economic
growth in agriculture, the energy and environment industries, manufacturing, tourism,
cultural and quality-of-life projects and infrastructure. At the centre of the SCOR
strategic-management plan, is to improve the vitality, sustainability and diversification
of the regional economy.
As reported in our previous newsletter, SCOR is a partnership of Elgin, Brant, Middlesex,
Oxford and Norfolk counties. The strategic management plan envisions the creation
of 15,500 jobs across the region within five years. You can read more at
www.scorregion.com.
Here in the Department of Community and Cultural Services, we are delighted that
we have recently received funds of $245,000 from the federal Community Adjustment
Funds. We have used the money to hire two Community-Development Officers to undertake
a variety of business expansion and retention projects.
The department is expanding its resources for the community in other ways, including:
- Creation of a Virtual Trade Show within
www.progressivebynature.com, now nearing
completion of its pilot stage;
- Working on the initial phase of development of an advanced new tourism website,
which will enable visitors to make online selections of destinations and create their own travel itineraries;
- Planning two major events for 2010: the International Plowing Match, which will
come to Elgin County in September, and an energy and environment conference
in March.
By the end of this year Elgin County will have a new workforce development strategy.
It is intended to make sure that we have the appropriate labour force so that our
primary economic development sectors – energy and environment, agri-business, manufacturing and tourism – can prosper.
The strategy is being developed in partnership with the Elgin Business Resource
Centre, the City of St. Thomas and Fanshawe College. We all recognize the need to
have educated, skilled and experienced people in the community so we can be investment
ready.
Partnerships, collaborative strategies and the effective application of technologies
in marketing and promotion are all part of Elgin County’s initiatives to promote
growth in our key industries. This is a very creative and active time for the Department
of Community and Cultural Services, and we look forward to reporting to you again
soon on the progress we are making with our many projects.
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