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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 1999-11-17, Page 8I. -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, November 17, 1999 News inManufacturing county strong stronger offer potential investors. The county is then in a proper land and sen ices must he position to promote Huron as able to meet the present and "Open for Business" and expansion needs • of a attract manufacturing manufacturing t:ttncenl. investment focusing on its Once the services and land strengths. inventory, are in place. the. Manufacturers link on series of initiatives to help promote and improve business across Huron County By Dove Sykes Godench Signol-Star Editor • Huron County manufacturers • have embraced a series of . initiatives aimed at strengthening the sector and improving and promoting business in the county. A series of goals, strategies and programs designed to improve . and attract manufacturing in Huron were presented to county council last * week by principals Sandy Baroudi and Gerald Pisarzowski of 'Advisory Services//GPA. The firm was retained to help facilitate a co-operative' effort among county manufacturers to work towards identifying needs and deficiencies and then formulate a strategy to retain and expand manufacturing investments in Huron County. The initiative was Iaunched. last year by John Grace of thc town's Economic Development" Committee and Scott Tousaw of . thc Huron County Planning Department, who saw the benefits of a partnership among manufacturers to strengthen, to retain existing manufacturing investment, and to promote and attract new business in HuTon outside of the political process. • The concept of the manufacturing partnership was embraced throughout the County and with funding from Human Resources Development Canada and the Huron. • Business Development Corporation in Seaforth; the partnership set out . to develop and implement a county -wide strategy for the attraction and retention of manufacturing. Over the summer months, the consulting firm Advisory Services//GPA sent a comprehensive survey to 174 manufacturers across the county to collect data to help identify and.prioritize key i-ssues affecting manufacturing in •Huron Coupty. The results of the survey helped to identify issues in the manufacturing sector, established patterns across the county and determined where the .strengths, issues and priorities arc. Grace. who is co- ordinating the Manufacturing Strategic Initiatives for Partnering Communities of Huron, said now that 15 initiatives have been presented by the consultants and endorsed by the stakeholders, it's time to•act. "It's all about developing partnciships and alliances in the manufacturing sector." he said. "The whole idea is to promote and push manufacturing and further its development in the county. We have strategic goals set, an action plan developed and now its time to establish vision and goals." A manufacturing strategy for Huron County identified 15 initiatives that the partnership should pursue. The strategic themes outlined in the report are; growth of the manufacturing labour pool: increasing links between manufacturers, suppliers and clients; encouraging development of land and services for growth; assisting small manufacturing entrepreneurs with expansion: defining the • Huron County product; and attracting new investment. The survey of local manufacturers revealed a difficulty in attracting entry Level workers and that there is a' lack of skilled trades people in the . area. The county's strength is in its agricultural production and Huron is a leader in the province. "Huron is the leader in agriculture in -Ontario -and the biggest producing county in the province." Baroudi explained. "You are a powerful player with the smallest number of farmers and the question is how do you leveragethat strength?" The • agri-processing industry is concentrated in the' Toronto area and $11 Town purchases $ioo,000 fire truck Seaforth town council. voted to buy .a used aerial fire truck for $100,000 at a recent meeting. The' international 85 -foot platform fire truck, bought from Res -Q -Tech -Systems Inc.. of Woodstock, should serve the Seaforth • fire department for 10 to 15 years, said Administrator Jack McLachlin in a letter to the fire department. A new comparable unit would cost approximately $450,000 to 5550.000. John Deere Gator Utility Vehicles *no t?4 re stant%io matte-Ina. atte Ina. other f41 a tate nervous. Maybe re's Wefts! Gator. Surety venrclas ccene In PS Of dieser. 2 or 44wt,eer arrse. W mays» is Mev 1.400 mune Dgbad, ot Mev foownrrt Mat Joys °own fust 5 6 to 7 5 Da wisatever the reason. yw's tore this rugged pada anvnal for an trio pica it can go. Mv(s it can do. and Suet n can Haut. V,srt yowl nearest Joon Deere Dealer ata see for yourseM No matt& what you hare n stare for a Gator Ut.rry veva.. .dare got one {tore far you Hurry in to see your participating John Deere Dealer today! ON' N ItOun%1v I-, CATIIR(AY 0. on All b, ; 10 Pr.1 5 MILES NORTH OF MITCHELL AT BORNHOLM ON PERTH LINE 444 billion is going to be spent in processing in the Future. There is an opportunity for Huron to attract investment." The survey pointed out that about 1,500 leave the county each day to go to work while about 650 people from outside the county enter Huron to work each day. The statistic suggests that there may not be enough manufacturing jobs in.Huron but also that people are. willing to live here and commute to jobs. The manufacturing, partnership will pursue initiatives 16 attract entry level workers, increase the pool of manufacturing apprenticeships and get Huron manufacturing ready for internet"manufacturing. Increasing the labour and apprentice pool will require the implementation of campaign to introduce high school students to careers in manufacturing through tours and visits to schools. An apprenticeship program in Huron with private public partnerships could be initiated to introduce students to a work environment and the first phase of . an apprenticeship program. Increasing links between manufacturers, clients and suppliers can he accomplished through the production of a Huron manufacturers directory to document the location, services and products offered by local manufacturers. To build on the local initiative, the consultants encourage manufacturers to use dedicated web sites for domestic and export product promotion and further encourage manufacturers to explore e-commerce on the net. Growth in Huron County will have to be nurtured by local municipalities through maintenance of industrial park and positive links with manufacturers. ' The appearance of the industrial park is important when a lending official is considering a venture capital loan, and Baroudi cited the Huron Park model, operated by the Ontario Development corporation, as a good example of a" well- maintained facility. He also encouraged municipalities to maintain a link with manufacturers in their jurisdiction so that the changing hard services required by industry are understood and met. He said it could be described as the industrial equivalent to a BIA. Attracting manufacturing to Huron County -will only be. feasible when there is an adequate directory of serviced industrial land to For real peace of mind,. Look tin this symbol tet protection. 1'S ,...,.tW.w� We provide insurance protection that lets you sleep at night. 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