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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2006-05-17, Page 11rtii4tRoWokr, Cooler Rental (I Sale Water Delivery 18.9 Litre $6.00 with a $1000 Refundable Deposit Reverse Osmosis, Spring or Distilled Goderich, ON L519 514 6919 News The Huron Expositor • May 17, 2006 Pogo11 Youth out -migration, farm crisis challenges for Huron State of Huron County's economy shared at first Business Expo In Seaforth Thursday Susan Hundertmark MEMO While Huron County's economy has a lot going for it, all is not rosy, local busi- nesspeople were told during the first Business Expo in Seaforth last week. Out -migration of youth and young families, having the third oldest population in Canada, the chronic restructuring of the farm sector and stiff offshore competition for manufactur- ing goods are the challenges facing Huron County, said Allison Lobb, of the Huron Business Centre. "Anyone who reads the news knows there's major issues facing the farm community right now," she said. "And, out -migration is something we need to deal with. We need to keep our young people in this area - they go for their education and don't come back," said -Lobb. Huron County statis- tics see one in two young people leave the county and one in four young families leave. Consequently, even though Huron County creates $850 million in revenue in manufactur- ing, there is a critical labour shortage, espe- cially in the skilled trades sector. Along with manufac- turing, the other pillars of the local economy include agriculture, which creates $656 mil- lion in revenue a year, tourism and retail at $535 million a year. As well, one in five people in Huron are self- employed in small busi- ness. "And, that's unusual," said Lobb. "There is very definitely an entrepreneurial bent in Huron County." There are over 250 new business start-ups in Huron each year in farm, business and per- sonal services. Lobb says personal services such asalter- native health therapies and seniors' services are a growth area. However, downtowns are struggling. "When you drive through any of our towns, you're sure to find some empty stores," said Lobb. Initiatives that havebeen launched to help Huron County downtowns include the First Impressions pro- gram, which pairs local small towns with small towns in other areas of Ontario who make sugges- tions of how each other can improve. To engage youth in the local economy, three pro- grams, including the Summer Company Program, the MedQUEST camp and the Willing Workers initia- tive, have been launched. "When all the Grade 12s in the county were inter- viewed, 60 per cent said they wanted to stay," said Lobb, adding that 50 per cent actually leave. The Summer Company program gives a $3,000 grant to young people who want to start their own summer business while the Willing Workers, based in Goderich, helps youth iden- tify goals and achieve them. During the next 10 years, 10,000 retirements are expected in Huron County but only 7,500 new recruits are expected. "That leaves us with a shortfall of 2,500 positions that won't be filled and we're going to have to address that," said Lobb. But, she said the populari- ty of Huron County's eco- nomic development activity is an encouraging piece of the picture. "We had people from China and Taiwan visit here a year ago because they heard about the economic activity going on in Huron. We have a lot of innovative research happening," she said. Story Idea? Call Susan or Jeff at 527-0240 ``YOUR RENOVATION AND HOME SPECIALISTS!". • 'Excavating Inc. 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