The Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership is creating an Economic Development Strategy that aims to answers fundamental questions that will shape next generation job creation and prosperity:
- What if we could achieve the exceptional as a community?
- What kind of community do we want to leave behind for our children and grandchildren?
- How do we create the transformative in our plans that help get us to our aspirational horizon line?
The Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership is creating an Economic Development Strategy that aims to answer these questions.
Great things have been happening in Sarnia-Lambton like the recent Diageo (whiskey distillery) and Origin Materials (sustainable materials manufacturing) investment announcements.
We have a generational opportunity and are aiming for ambitious. Economic Development Strategies speak the language of job creation, workforce attraction, and workforce retention – the heartbeat of community vibrancy. But they also speak the language of broader community development and the joy we seek in life well-lived – from placemaking to downtown vibrancy to housing choice and affordability.
Economic development strategies specifically focus on new ways forward for:
- Investment Attraction (further sector development of large and dynamic elements of our economy: energy and chemistry, agriculture, manufacturing, and professional services – that generate high quality jobs and have high multiplier effects that benefits all).
- Business Retention & Expansion (supporting existing business in their growth plans).
- Destination Development (tourism infrastructure development).
- Workforce Development (skills matching with employment opportunities).
- Resident Attraction (attracting quality of life seekers).
- Marketing (job-creation focused salesmanship).
We can embrace big ideas about the future in an Economic Development Strategy. We also need to focus on identification of pragmatic actions that generate progress toward our vision of the future.
The Economic Development Strategy is anticipated to be complete in May 2023.
