Goderich Signal Star, 2017-06-14, Page 1920 Signal Star • Wednesday. June 14, 2017
Attracting tech talent to rural Ontario possible with high-speed fibre
ilk Huron County is seeking federal
Connect to Innovate funding to expand
regional broadband connectivity
Tony Scott is the founder
and president of Akira Stu-
dio, an established web -
based tech company that
designs, develops and hosts
websites for over 450 com-
panies across the globe.
Akira employs web devel-
opers, software engineers,
network analysts and con-
tent creators that work
together to optimize the
online presence
and competitiveness of a
business. All -of these jobs
require high skills, are in
demand, and can be per-
formed anywhere - any-
where with a high-speed
Internet connection.
"My team and I rely on
high-speed fibre to meet
with clients using video con-
ferencing and to connect
with web servers based all
over the world," said Scott.
"The nature of our work
means that we can choose to
.work wherever we want."
Just like many others in
the growing cohort of suc-
cessful Millennial entrepre-
neurs, balancing work and
lifestyle is an important goal
for Scott.
Drawn to the lifestyle ben-
efits and sense of commu-
nity in rural 1-lurorn County,
Scott wants to relocate full-
time - himself and Akira Stu-
dio headquarters - to his
seasonal residence located
south of the Village of
Bayfield.
ENTRY FORM
GODERICH CANADA DAY PARADE
Saturday, July 1, 2017 at 2pm;
�L�
et's Celebrate '��
Canada & Goderich
4.1hrough the Decades
NAME OF ENTRY
CONTACT PERSON
ADDRESS
POSTAL CODE _ _
TELEPHONE EMAIL
DESCRIPTION OF ENTRY (including length, use of, music)
Music: Yes _ No_ What Decade? Length?
Please detach and keep for your own reference.
PLEASE BE SURE YOUR FLOAT CLEARLY SHOWS THE NAME
OF YOUR BUSINESS OR ORGANIZATION.
CONDITIONS
1. Registration deadline is Friday, June 16, 2017
2. Tourism Goderich must approve of entry
3. Entries with animals must provide their own means of dean -up
4. Please refrain from throwing items from your entry. Hand out candy, etc.
5. Parade will be marshalled on Elgin Ave., west of South Street at 1 pm
6. You will be emailed or telephoned your parade position by June 28, 2017
7. Complete this form and mail it to:
TOURISM GODERICH, 57 West St, Goderich N7A 2K5
OR fax it to 519-524-1466
OR deliver it to Tourist Information Centre,
91 Hamilton Street
OR email the required details to:
specialeverrlsOgoderich.ca
CANADA 1S0
1467. 2017
GODERICH
11177.76117
Ilowever, the Internet ser-
vice currently available to his
rural residence isn't able to
•meet his business needs.
"I know there are other
people like myself who want
to relocate and work from
nicer surroundings.like
those found in Huron
County - especially the Mil-
Iennials who have a life ethic
of not wanting to work in a
fixed office during regular
hours," added Scott.
In April, Iluron County
Council partn.ered with
Comcentric - a cooperative
of local Internet service pro-
viders - to submit an appli-
cation to the Government of
Canada's Connect to
Innovate program.
The project proposes to
connect 98% of Huron.
County's population with
high-speed fibre within 3
years.
To leverage federal invest-
ment in this project, which is
expected to cost a total of
$31.5M, County Council has
committed 22 per cent or
$7M over seven years to help
make it happen.
"IIuron County's project
to expand broadband con-
nectivity would attract
highly -skilled labour and the
human capital that comes
along with it to rural
Ontario," said Warden Jim
Ginn. "however, we can't
build this infrastructure
alone and are calling on the
federal government to part-
ner with us
For Scott, having reliable
high-speed fibre is the differ-
ence between being in busi-
ness and not being in
business.
Huron County Council
recognizes this reality and
is trying to attract these
entrepreneurs and grow the
regional economy.
"Expanding high-speed
connectivity is a top prior-
ity of Council," added War-
den Ginn. -
Home to 60,000 full-time
residents, Huron County is
one of the most agricultur-
ally productive regions in
Ontario.
Major sectors of the local
economy include agri-busi-
ness, manufacturing, profes-
sional services and tourism.
How to: Digitized Newspapers
Learn to
navigate and
search Huron
County digitized
newspapers -
The Huron County Library
has been digitizing historical
newspapers from across the
county.
Over 130 years of local his-
tory is now available online
and the -collection is contin-
uously growing.
This project is highly valu-
able
for historians, genealogi-
cal researchers, or for casual
researchers who wish to rem-
inisce about days gone by.
Over the next few weeks,
Jeremy Dechert, East Team
Branch Assistant and Special
Project Coordinator at the
Huron County Museum will
be hosting 5 digitized news-
paper outreach sessions.
These sessions are
designed to familiarize com-
munity members with the
library's growing collection
of digitized newspapers.
Outreach session
locations and dates:
Clinton: June 15 from
6:30-7:30 PM
Winghanl: June 20
from 7:00-8:00 PM
Exeter: June 22 from
6:30-7:30 PM
Goderich: June 23.
from 2:00-3:00 PM
Seaforth: June 29
from 6:30-7:30 PM
Participants will learn
about the history, purpose,
and goals of the newspaper
digitization project. -
They will also learn how to
navigate through the newspa-
per database and search
effectively for the information
they are most interested in.
The outreach sessions will
be interactive. Participants
can provide names and top-
ics to be searched during the
sessions which will allow
them to see first-hand how
For those unable to .
attend a How To ses-
sion, fully searchable dig-
itized newspapers are
available through the
library's website at:
https://www.huron-
county.ca/library/spe
cial-col lection/digi-
tized-newspapers/
the database maybe person-
ally relevant to them.
"The digitized newspapers
project is creating a bridge to
the past. It allows research-
ers to save valuable time and
energy while helping them
find the information that
matters most to them," said
Jeremy Dechert; Branch
Assistant, East Team.
Call or visit your local
Huron County Library to sign
up for an outreach session.
Registration is required
Local 1863 Retirees and guests visit Bruce Power
Members of the IAM Local
1863 Retirees Club and their
guests recently visited the
Bruce Power nuclear energy
generating site.
A party of 35 club mem-
bers, spouses and guests
arrived at the Welcome Cen-
tre just north of Tiverton.
Following a security
check,the visitors .were
escorted on a special bus
tour of the power -generating
site where, a knowledgeable
guide explained the features
of the facility.
After the site tour, time
was spent in the Exhibition
Hall where other types of
electricity generating, such
as wind turbines, were
described.
Everyone was delighted to
visit this facility and fully
appreciated its importance
as a major contributor to the
electricity power grid in this
province.
If you ever worked at
Champion/Volvo and want to .
join the club to get in on trips,
special guest presentations
and fellowship with your old
workmates, you are welcome
to come to the Goderich
Legion the second Wednes-
day of every month at loam
where free coffee is available.
For any further informa-
tion, call John Stadelmann at
519-523-9204 or John White
at 519-524-7527. _