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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2009-01-21, Page 2• • C tap 2 9 e 0/WWII 92b09 News Communities in Transition economic development project aims to create up to 600 jobs across bounty u.o Schwab P Twenty-two economic initiatives across the county, including about eight in Huron East, are set to be launched this year pending a $777,000 funding request from the province, the county's senior economic develop- ment officer said recently. The county is expecting a decision The county expecting a decision soon from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, says Mike Pullen, about whether the Communi- ties in Transition project will receive the funding that will hopefully gen- erate 75.local businesses and create 400-600 jobs. "Local dollars will be leveraged Put your mind at ease. Let's figure it out Come in for your TD Personal Assessment and. get the retirement advice you need. 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TD Waterhouse and let's figure it out' are trade-morks of The Toronto -Dominion Bank, ,f. against the provincial funding end the provincial funding and if all is approved we're looking at ap- proximately $1.3 million for the proj- ect," Pullen. says. Pullen says he expected to hear a decision from the province before Christmas but was told many minis- try employees were "pulled into deal- ing with the automotive crisis," which is the reason for the delay. The project started when the Volvo plant in Goderich made the announce- ment last fall that it would be closing. The ministry then approached the county to submit an application for the funding, "basically for existing strategies to get off the ground and diversify the economy," Pullen says. The county submitted the applica- tion in December, which focused on creating more economic opportunities - across all sectors of the county, in- cluding agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and cultural industries. "We tried to look at existing strate- gies that needed a shot ;n the arm," Pullen says. Some plans for Huron East include more funding for the Gateway Rural Health Research Institute, a market- ing and development strategy for Va- nastra and further marketing initia- tives for the Brussels beef plant. The county -wide project is coming at a time when most manufacturers are reluctant to accept how bad the eco- nomic situation really is,' says Chris Meier, president of the Huron Manu- facturer's Association. __ "Orders are down. People don't want to commit to inventory at all. It's a. scary thing," Meier says. "In '09, the outlook is very grim in the first half. I don't want to be negative but I want to be realistic." Meier says while local manufac- turers and those across Canada are troubled because of the far-reaching global economic slowdown, support in certain sectors from the federal gov- ernment's upcoming budget couldi u comin budget do much to jumpstart the ailing indus- try. "The budget has to have a balanced view, based on the number of people in the territory," he says. A stimulus package for automotive would help some communities, he says, but would not be as welcome in Huron County. "Hopefully, they'll look at small, ru- ral companies in the same way as ur- ban ones," he says. Refocusing on diversification and a commitment to keeping products made locally instead of overseas is also important, he adds. Before, we were maintaining (jobs). Now we're cutting them," he says. "We want to get back to maintaining." Meier says the relationship with customers is also changing for small- er companies. "We didn't need marketing sales and skills over the past 10 years," he says. "Customers came to us ... We need to look at a survival mode in 2009- 2010." Meier says with the Comunities in Transition project focusing on creat- ing a number of smaller companies instead of one large one, there's more security for workers. "If we build 22 little initiatives and lose one, it's not like losing one big company like Volvo," he says. He says with smaller companies it's also easier to maintain ownership within Huron County, which will cut down on the chance that operations will move elsewhere during a down- turn in the local economy. By creating new jobs, the county's urban centres will also profit, he says. "We want a mixture of stores and the only way to do that is to have long- term sustainable jobs," he says. "If we lose those, we'll turn into a bunch of ghost towns." Hardwood_FIoorin� e�ovvrca pub a rrawsvar'<wlua .«�ecf:«aeate.�rk zaw�:s� �a c r «ae '...v « .aw�..,..das , Tii'esday, 7:30 PM Viewing from Noon Sale Day @ THE NEUSTADT ARENA Thousands and Thousands of Square Feet of VERY high end PREFINISHED nail down SOLID HARDWOOD flooring. Top Name Brand flooring, engineered Real Hardwood Floating Floor, AWESOME SELECTION OF LAMINATES. 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