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By Steve Coleman
If knowledge really is power, a pocket in Eastern Ontario is working to tap into its people to kindle a brighter future. Southern Ontario may still be Canada’s traditional manufacturing heartland, but four economic development corporations stretching from Peterborough to Belleville are gathering their intelligence for the new knowledge economy.
While countries like China play catch up on bricks-and-mortar projects, the City of Kawartha Lakes, the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation, Northumberland County Economic Development and the Quinte Economic Development Commission are planning their next moves to become bigger players on the global arena. The fact they’re all neighbours with a combined population of roughly 250,000 people doesn’t hurt, either.
“We’re in a new era of growth driven by the creative economy,” said Dan Taylor, president and CEO of the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation and the Greater Peterborough Innovation Centre. “What’s driving that growth is human capital — people. Before, it was capital — big bricks and mortar and big heavy equipment — like what’s still happening in China. Now, with the knowledge economy, it’s people driving it.”
While the economic development folks take stock of what they already have, a $1.55 million federal grant was put to use retaining and retraining workers who lost their jobs to plant closings, as well as individuals under the age of 29 just getting into the workforce.
As a group, Tri-Association Manufacturers’ Initiative offered local businesses $1,000 in training rebates to keep locals living in the area. Employers matched the amount and guaranteed to keep their new hires on for at least three months.
The group estimated it would be able to help 80 small- and medium-sized business create 300 new jobs in the area, according to Laura Lauzon, director of manufacturing and small business for the Greater Peterborough Area. What they got was 111 businesses and 377 new jobs.
If they decide to go back for another round of funding, it will make for a solid selling point, she said. They were planning to go public with the results at the beginning of November.
Employers are always on the lookout for new hires who have the skills to fit into the new economy, said Jay Amer, president of the Economic Development Association of Canada. One of the areas that will be looking the hardest over the next few years is the energy sector, particularly the wind, solar and nuclear industries.
Developing the next-generation of building materials is another area. Expanding on the markets that already exist in an area is one of the keys to building a more successful community, Amer said.
Quinte took the approach that people living in the Brighton, Trenton, Belleville corridor will all benefit, regardless of where they live, said Chris King, CEO of the Quinte Economic Development Commission.
“Businesses don’t necessarily care where those municipal boundaries are,” King said. “They look at where your workforce is coming from and where their suppliers and customers are located. So, the communities got together to promote themselves as a region to match the way an industry might look at where they make the investment.”
Working together to attract industry goes a lot further than competing against each other for the same company, he said.
As for the Quinte economic development group, they set up shop at Loyalist College in Belleville with similar operations to help make it more attractive. Other organizations like the Business Development Bank of Canada, the National Research Council’s IRAP program, the local tourism agency and others all moved into the same building to set up one-stop shopping for prospective clients.
On top of promoting their own areas, all four are part of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission and helping brand the larger region.
Supplying the right people for the job is another part of the equation, King said. The agency works with Loyalist College to build programs relevant to the local labour market.
In addition to food production and more advanced manufacturing industries, the entire corridor has decided to focus on the aerospace industry. Close proximity to CFB Trenton, established aerospace firms and a recent $30 million upgrade at the Peterborough Airport are all selling points, the economic development groups say.
But, for Peterborough, exploring new possibilities and finding a niche to fill are part of a larger, carefully-thought-out plan.
Energy, film and television production, new media, software development, health care as well as education and skills training with the help of institutions like Trent University and Sir Sanford Fleming College are other areas where the city has decided to set its focus. Throw in a labour force survey and plans to produce sales packages they can give to companies about the benefits of moving to the area and Taylor is hoping the city will have a winning formula to create new jobs.
While they fly the possibility of new aerospace jobs, the city is also positioning itself to become Canada’s water capital and syphon off a higher standard of living for everyone in the process.
Knowledge-based jobs pay an average of about $58,000 per year. Traditional blue-collar work pays about $38,000 annually, he said.
“We had a report done about a year-and-a-half ago that identified we had a real strength in water,” Taylor said. “When I arrived (on the job), I kept hearing that we have this world-class water cluster, but that was it. We only had the headline.”
After a little more research and sitting down with industry groups, it turned out the community had a local talent pool in science, technology, the research and development of water quality as well as water quality service and solutions.
“What we learned is that it’s an $800 billion to $1 trillion industry globally and growing,” Taylor said. “We’re messing up our water, as humanity, the population is growing and the demand for clean water is becoming greater and greater.”
North American water and sewage infrastructure isn’t getting any younger, either.
Breaking the ice on the idea that the city is destined to become the nation’s reservoir of water-related scientific information is the most difficult selling point of the whole concept at the moment, he said.
“Economic development projects are long-term,” Taylor said. “It can take anywhere from one to five years to find out whether you’ve made any progress.”
