PAGE FOUR Inside Wellington - Second Section of The Wellington Advertiser, Friday, October 16, 2009
Large township holding its own with businesses - and looking to future by David Meyer ELORA - Ask Economic Development Manager Dave Rushton how’s business in Centre Wellington, and he can supply the questioner with a lot of information. He can list businesses by their streets and by their owners. But crunching numbers is, to him, a mug’s game. For example, ask him how many small businesses there are in the township and he asks right back the definition of a small business. Is it five employees? A home business? Ten employees? Fifty? In Toronto, for example, a small business is defined as one with fewer than 2,000 employees. There used to be a way for municipal staff to at least say how many businesses were operating in the community because every business was once required to have a licence. In some places they still face that requirement, but not in Centre Wellington. Rushton can cite reasons for and against such a licence. On the positive side, it informs local government who is in or coming into the community. He said that means the municipality can smooth the path for the new owners by explaining such things as zoning, sign bylaws, and other
rules that will enable new businesses to meet regulations and reduce red tape headaches. But on the other hand, some people see it as “one more tax” and something that might discourage businesses. He said the township is in the process of starting a new business directory he hopes will provide some clear cut information about the number of businesses in town. As for how many new businesses came to town in the past year, again, it becomes a matter of definition. Is it is new business if the old proprietor sells to someone else, or is it a continuation of an old business? He cited a number of businesses that simply changed hands over the past year. Still, he said, there have probably been 10 to 15 noticeable new and expanded companies come to the community over the past year. “Probably, we’re a pretty reasonable mix of coming and going,” he said. He cited several major events over the past year, such as the sale of the Elora Mill Inn, the opening of the huge Keating building on Mill Street East in Elora (which allowed a large business in Fergus not only to stay in Centre Wellington, but also to expand),
plus a huge expansion of Dixon Lumber and growth of a number of other businesses in the north end of Fergus. “We’ve had a fair number of expansions in the past year,” Rushton said. He added two main buildings on St. Andrew Street in Fergus - Russell’s and Wellington Interiors - have closed their doors, but he is optimistic it will be only a matter of time before new retailers come in. At the same time, he noted the west end of that street has added a number of new businesses over the past year and the area is starting to look once again like a retail district. Centre Wellington is taking an active role in attracting and keeping businesses in the community and Rushton cited a number of cases where his department has helped owners find accommodations. He noted a number of new businesses have also started in Elora in the past while, offering quilts, gems and other goods. A Fergus area limousine service just increased its fleet. “We’re in a very good environment,” Rushton said, noting that recently a very large company made enquiries to four centres about locations for a huge plant: three major cities and Centre Wellington.
He predicted there will likely be another 15 to 20 new businesses entering the community in the next year. “That’s not counting home based businesses,” he added. Counting those can be difficult too. Expansion There are plans in the community for other expansions. The Elora Business Improvement Area, for example, recently enlarged - mostly on the east side of Mill Street, which has been slowly expanding its retail area for over a dozen years. But Rushton said that is more problematic in Fergus. “There’s not a lot of the downtown that isn’t in it,” he said. Shopping locally Rushton said Centre Wellington is similar to other areas in that the local government is part of the movement to shop locally. Wellington County also recently moved to promote itself and shopping locally, and its efforts included promotion for every local municipality. Rushton said Centre Wellington is working on strategies to get people to shop in their home district. But he said with thousands of people leaving the community every day for work,
that is difficult because they often shop in places they work. Federal and provincial governments can play a role in business decisions too, including whether businesses locate here or elsewhere. “We lost one big one,” he said of some recent enquiries. The company was huge, but its products are shipped outside of Ontario. When it learned those products would be taxed here, it decided to locate outside of the province. He said there was a noticeable drop-off in enquiries in the 2009 economic slowdown from 2007 and 2008, but expects that will soon reverse. Rushton said Ontario municipalities are not permitted to provide bonuses to companies locating in their municipality. That was a practice in the 18th century that required a municipal plebiscite and council approval, but it is no longer permitted. Rushton said the United States still permits such things as property tax breaks and bonuses. Tongue firmly in cheek, he said Michigan, particularly hard hit in the recession, would give away the “keys to Detroit and a thousand houses” for a big business to locate there. Centre Wellington is trying to attract new businesses and
the jobs that come with them. The township designated industrial lands in its official plan of 2003 and all it will need is proper zoning when people are ready to build. He said the township is working hard on a particular type of industry it believes it can attract because of its cultural and physical attributes. Rushton said old style industry takes up a lot of resources, and he pointed out that one company at one time used 15% of Fergus’ total sewage and water capacity. Today, the township is hoping to attract jobs to eco-business parks. Those would be knowledge based, creative and not require too much in municipal services. He said, for example, an ideal business would be one that “designs” equipment such as communication devices, with perhaps the manufacturing done elsewhere. There is a very practical reason for such proposals and those types of jobs. “They’re well paid - and the people [working at them] can afford to live here,” he said. He noted Centre Wellington is an expensive place. “We’re not a good community for people who don’t earn very much.”
Small thinking big to promote Wellington North as great spot for businesses by Mike Robinson KENILWORTH - In Wellington North the task of promoting the area is split among two people. Dale Small, Business and Economic Manager, is responsible for the development of commerce and economic development activities within the township and ensuring the sustainable growth of a diverse and stable economy. Donna Jack, Tourism, Marketing and Promotion Manager, is responsible for creating and implementing strategies and directives as well as expanding current events and attractions to promote a professional standard of tourism, promotion, and marketing activities. Now six months into the job, Small said, “clearly economic development in this municipality has a high degree of focus.” He said that is evident from the fact Wellington North has dedicated economic development people. He said he and Jack are part time and contract employees “but we’re both dedicated to economic development.” He considered that in itself is relatively unique in Wellington County. “My understanding is there is Centre Wellington, Minto, ourselves, and the City of Guelph with dedicated economic development people,” Small said. He is uncertain how the issue is dealt with in the other municipalities; whether through the CAO or other means.
“In Wellington North, it certainly has that sense of importance,” he said. Small believes there is more potential in the county to partner in various areas. “What’s good for Minto is good for Wellington North,” Small explained. He said if Minto attracts a large manufacturing plant, there is the potential to employ people in Mount Forest. “The more we can work together on economic development activities, the better everyone will be.” In the six months in the job, Small said, “What’s been interesting, in the first three months on the job, I didn’t have any phone calls - from developers or people looking whether there was any industrial land for sale. But in the last three months, I’ve had a bunch. From that standpoint, things are picking up.” In terms of building permits, he anticipates for 2009 the stats will likely be as good as 2007 and probably match those of 2008 (higher than 2007). “That’s a good sign, that those have bounced back.” He said one of the benefits of Wellington North, “is that we really have the infrastructure in place now.” He cited the Big Dig Main Street reconstruction is now over, “and the main street looks tremendous.” However, he said that extends all the way through the municipality - alluding to the reconstruction work on Highway 6 between Arthur and
Mount Forest. “It’s not done yet, but it will be done soon ... When you talk infrastructure that is a tremendously positive thing for Wellington North.” He noted the completion of the wastewater treatment plant in Mount Forest will accommodate growth in the future. Whether it is the new child care centre, the new sports complex in Mount Forest, the new library and medical clinic in Arthur, “There’s been a lot of good things going on in our infrastructure, which will sustain us well, when the development does come. “I don’t think we’re the only municipality not having tremendous growth at this point in time.” He referred to statistics generated by the Saugeen Economic Development Corporation indicating everything is down. Small said when he does get the calls, “the infrastructure can help differentiate between places.” Initially, they want to know if the municipality has land, whether it is serviced - and is it available. “Then they immediately move on to find out what is going on within the community.” Small said Wellington North has generated a community information profile which covers off most of that information - “and what are all the good things are the community has to offer.” He noted as part of Wellington North’s 10th anniversary celebrations recently, it launched a newly designed
website, expected to be live by the end of October. “Then it will be a lot easier for people to find information and find out what’s going on in the community.” Small said Wellington North has an economic development strategy to retain and attract economic opportunities. He hoped the upcoming Industry Innovators will become an annual event. Over 500 businesses have been invited from the Wellington North area, as well as 16 business and government groups. “Any business knows your most important asset is your customer,” Small said. “These businesses and industries are our customers. One of the best ways to stimulate economic development is to making sure we are taking care of our customers and breaking down any barriers they have to growth.” From an economic development perspective, “It’s easier to grow an existing business than to be out there on the street with everybody else trying to get new business in.” While he agreed it is very important to attract new business, it is important to take care of the existing businesses as well. He said the intent of the business retention and expansion survey is to discover how to better help businesses already in the community. Land development is another issue. He said Wellington North has been actively supporting the Places to Grow Plan for the province and Wellington County. That plan looks
at growth forecasts both in Wellington North and the county as a whole. “That’s essentially telling us that based on the growth forecasts within Wellington North, we have enough industrial land, we have enough residential land - zone land. We might be a little short on commercially zoned land.” However, he explained the land is zoned - not owned - by the municipality. He also noted that the amount of land is based on a 20 year forecast. “In the short term, we are in good shape, based on the Places to Grow Plan. The one challenge we have in Wellington North, is that as a municipality, we don’t own the land. “All the economic development gurus say what industry is looking for is municipallyowned and serviced industrial land.” He said when companies make a decision to build, they want to move quickly. As a result, one of the strategies is considering expanding the municipally-owned land base. Other parts of the program include downtown and rural revitalization, tourism, and health care. In downtown revitalization, Small said one can look at what has happened in downtown Mount Forest, but added Arthur has a strong committee as well. “They are a very active community, headed up by Mary Schmidt, that’s done a lot of good work in terms of streetscaping.” Small also met recently with members of OMAFRA
which has a number of programs for business expansion and retention. He said that in 2010, Wellington North will be considering OMAFRA’s downtown revitalization program as a funding opportunity. Earlier this year, Minto received considerable funding under that same program. Small said there are lots of different programs out there. “The challenge is to stay on top of them all and to tap into them.” He views health care as tremendously important from an economic development standpoint for attracting and retaining businesses. Small said, again, the challenge is not that there is not enough sufficiently zone land, but that it is not municipallyowned. While the township does not have municipal business licences, it does have them for vendor operations. In the realm of current new business negotiation, Small explained, “It is always difficult to talk about ... but the answer is, ‘Yes’.” Again, he explained that in the first three months, there were no calls, but in the past three months, there’s been a dozen enquiries. “Some are just enquiries, but some are actually quite potentially positive.” He said the discussions on the development of the Murphy lands at south end of Mount Forest are still quite active. He also noted the recent approval of the wind turbines near Arthur.