December Newsletter

 

Waterfront revitalizations transforming Brockville into premiere destination

Eastern Ontario counties being pitched as ideal locales to launch a brewery

 

Waterfront revitalizations transforming Brockville into premiere destination

There’s a whole new buzz in the City of Brockville as a series of multimillion-dollar construction projects begin transforming the Thousand Islands community into a premiere cultural and outdoor recreation destination.

“It’s our time,” said David Paul, Brockville’s Director of Economic Development.

Indeed, it seems it is.

No fewer than seven major construction projects are planned or underway. These include a $20-million, 26,000-sq.ft. Aquatarium aquarium and a 22-storey, $114-million waterfront condominium, both of which will open in mid-2013—around the same time the city will host a major tall ships and antique boat festival.

Other projects include

• an 11-storey, 94-unit condominium downtown with shops and restaurants;
• a 10-storey condo complex with 106 units;
• an $8-million health and wellness centre;
• a $48-million, nine-storey commercial-residential-hotel complex with underground parking; and
• a 300-acre solar farm.

The timing of the new projects is no coincidence. They come as a result of plans that have been in the works since 2008. Those include agg

ressive community improvement and downtown waterfront brownfield plans and recently completed strategic and official plans.

Brockville has also introduced several incentives to make building in the city attractive, such as waved development and permit fees, tax rebates for new developments, a brownfield program that provides incremental financing, and historic-façade grants.

While none of the projects will be completed until at least next year, the development is already having an impact on Brockville as potential

investors catch the Brockville buzz, said Paul.

For example, new businesses—including an upscale three-storey restaurant—are moving into downtown storefronts that have been vacant for years.

“We’ve seen a significant infilling of retail/commercial vacancies in the downtown,” said Paul. “Ten units have been filled since 2008.”

As well, the city is seeing its lowest industrial vacancy rate in more than a decade.

The planned construction of 600 downtown residential units within the next two years brings the city almost one-third of the way to its target to attract

2,000 new downtown residents within the next 20 years.

“We think we are at that turning point,” said Paul. “Brockville is steadily transforming itself from a Highway 401 transient stopover to a very popular cultural and recreation destination.”

Eastern Ontario counties being pitched as ideal locales to launch a brewery

Hastings, Prince Edward, Lennox & Addington and Frontenac Counties could one day become a popular tourism destination among libation lovers seeking to sample a rich variety of craft beers while vacationing in a rural, rugged landscape.

Hastings County economic development manager Andrew Redden has been doggedly promoting his area as a superb low-cost place to brew beer in hopes of mirroring the success that Prince Edward County has enjoyed from its wine industry.

“What about Hastings, Fronteac or Lennox & Addington?” said Andrew Redden. “Maybe we could become a new brewing region.”

To build interest, Redden has been working with neighbouring economic development offices, under the brand “Ontario’s Artisan Food & Beverage (FAB) Region” to market to local residents with an interest in brewing, or creating their own business, and to people further afield.

Redden helped facilitate a beer festival that has taken place for the last two years in Stirling, a village at the south end of Hastings County. In October, more than 20 craft breweries brought their best hop-filled beverages and as many as 800 beer lovers attended the event.

Full-page ads have also been placed in TAPS, a Canadian beer lovers’ magazine, and Redden has been talking up the FAB Region as the perfect beer-brewing destination for the last three years at a Toronto specialty craft beer event.

When highlighting the benefits of beer-making in the FAB Region, Redden tells people that it is close to Highway 401, has easy access to Toronto and Ottawa, and is a ruggedly scenic, relatively inexpensive place to do business.

“For example, the northern areas are referred to as Muskoka East, except more affordable,” said Redden. “The response has been good.”

While Redden said he doesn’t expect to see a brewing industry appear overnight—indeed, it took Prince Edward County several years to build its wine industry—momentum is growing.

A group of entrepreneurs is planning to locate a craft brewery tourism destination on a lakefront property near Bancroft. Bush Pilot Brewing Company plans to sell beer but also offer meals on its waterfront patio.

Redden said the company expects to have its first sample beers available at the LCBO in January or February and will begin sharing samples to help generate interest among potential investors.

Another man in Stirling is planning to build a small commercial microbrewery on his farm. And Redden expects more to follow.

“It’s happening,” said Redden. “We could eventually have a regional brew tour that goes throughout Hastings and nearby Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, and Prince Edward counties.”

Toronto community college to move flight school to Peterborough airport

Peterborough’s creative economy is achieving some sky-high success as a result of the addition of a college flying school to the community.

Seneca College’s School of Aviation and Flight Technology plans to begin operating its flight school at the city’s municipal airport in January 2014.

Seneca’s School of Aviation and Flight Technology is currently operating out of Buttonville Airport, which is closing.

The school consists of approximately 150 second-, third- and fourth-year students along with 50 faculty in support of their Bachelor of Aviation Technology. Students will continue to attend Seneca’s Newnham campus in Toronto for their first year and then attend the flight school at the Peterborough Airport for their second, third and fourth years.

Peterborough City Council recently approved $16 million in upgrades to accommodate the relocation of Seneca’s flight school. These accommodations include upgrades to Seneca’s new building and ramp area. This is in addition to the city’s contribution of $7 million of the $28.6 million in upgrades made to the Peterborough Airport last year. That money will support Peterborough’s aviation and aerospace sector and the creation of new jobs and economic growth in the region.

Aviation and aerospace is a major focus in Peterborough and it is deemed a vital economic generator. Earlier this year, The Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) granted the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation $30,000 for active business development and investment attraction in Peterborough’s aviation and aerospace sector.

The airport is one of Peterborough’s greatest assets, and the relocation of the flight school is a significant investment that is expected to encourage further growth in the region, said a news release the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation.

Port Hope environmental monitoring firm wins local contract

A green-industry enterprise that recently joined IDEAHUB, Port Hope’s municipal-run business incubator, is celebrating the capture of a contract to help the community with an environmental cleanup.

EnviroMonitoring Ltd., which provides independent monitoring of dust levels, has already hired and trained five graduates of Fleming College’s Environmental Technology program to work on the contract for the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI). The initiative involves the cleanup and long-term management of low-level radioactive waste created by a uranium refining facility that operated in the area more than 40 years ago.

Established by professional engineers Colin Bromley and Jean-Louis Grenier, the company saw IDEAHUB as the ideal location for their business.

President Colin Bromley said his company has received great support.

“Operating out of the IDEAHUB is delightful,” Bromley said. “It provides us with a friendly, supportive environment as well as remarkable value for office space, phone and Internet services.

One of the main goals of Port Hope’s business incubator is to support startup businesses and help them to grow into the community.

The strength behind IDEAHUB is community partnerships, said a release from the business incubator. The municipality works closely with local agencies and educational institutions on the development, support, and promotion of the space. This local support is a great opportunity for new business startups setting the stage for long term positive impact on the local business community, said the release.

Though the focus of IDEAHUB is to attract “green” and energy-related industries and their support services, all business proposals are considered and a diverse blend of start-up companies currently occupy the space.

Kingston’s GreenCentre spins out second green chemistry company

A Kingston-based organization that transforms green chemistry research breakthroughs into clean sustainable products and processes has founded its second spinoff company.

Forward Water Technologies was recently created by GreenCentre Canada.

Based on a technology that is part of the "Switchable" platform invented at Queen's University by Dr. Philip Jessop, Forward Water Technologies aims to introduce a greener and more efficient way to desalinate water.

In many areas of the world, fresh water is scarce and desalination of seawater is often the only option available. Currently, the dominant technologies used for desalination are distillation and reverse osmosis, both of which are quite costly and energy intensive.

Forward Water Technologies' green desalination system is capable of purifying water using one of nature's natural driving forces known as osmotic pressure.

With their proprietary switchable salt, Forward Water Technologies is able to create an extremely salty solution that is capable of drawing pure water across a membrane without the use of heat or energy.  Once this process is complete, the switchable salt is "switched off," removed from the system and collected again for re-use.

This process, driven by forward osmosis, holds the promise of clean water for millions around the world through a desalination process that uses less energy and is much more cost effective than the incumbent distillation or reverse osmosis-based systems.

Forward Water Technologies is in discussion with early stage investors and is currently engaged with a strategic partner in the water treatment business to further develop the technology.

Forward Water aims to install this green desalination process worldwide in areas where fresh drinking water is scarce as well as implementing it as a more efficient way to treat wastewater produced by such processes as enhanced oil recovery and fracking.

"Forward Water is one of those technologies that exemplifies GreenCentre's mandate to change chemistry and change the world," said Rui Resendes, Executive Director of GreenCentre.

"The breakthrough desalination process being developed by Forward Water Technologies has the potential to resolve the myriad of social, environmental and economic challenges tied to the dwindling supply of fresh water," Resendes said.

Cornwall contractors and others attend national development conference

Cornwall real-estate development opportunities were showcased at Canada’s largest annual property management exposition and conference last month.

Bob Peters, Cornwall’s Senior Economic Development Officer, said Toronto’s PM Expo, which attracts 25,000 attendees annually, is an important opportunity.

 “The show attracts a diverse group of people including developers, real estate professionals and investors,” said Peters. “The Cornwall booth is typically busy, and we meet a lot of people who are interested in learning more about the city, including people who are considering relocating.”

Cornwall development opportunities were exhibited at the show, including available commercial buildings and greenfield development sites in the Cornwall Business Park. Cornwall has a number of advantages when it comes to building and development, not the least of which is the fact that the city does not have development charges.

These investment opportunities are profiled in a brochure entitled Development Opportunities in the City with a World of Possibilities. The brochure was updated and expanded for the 2012 show.  

Each year, a number of Cornwall contractors and business professionals attend the show to learn about new products and best practices in their industry. Cornwall Economic Development provides free passes to the show for people interested in attending.

The conference features more than 1,050 exhibits and a robust series of seminars with more than 450 speakers. The show is held concurrently with Construct Canada, HomeBuilder & Renovator Expo, Concrete Canada, DesignTrends and the National GreenBuilding Conference.

This year has turned out to be a busy construction year in Cornwall, with a number of major development projects underway. These include the completion of the new 1.3 million sq.ft. distribution centre for Target,  new residential projects, commercial plazas, and downtown revitalization projects.  

Public sector projects include the ongoing construction of a new international bridge, the redevelopment of the Cornwall Community Hospital and a $55 million wastewater treatment plant upgrade.

Mom creates gluten-free and dairy-free dishes as Tasty Alternatives

When a child has special needs, parents will do whatever it takes to provide them with the best of what they require.  That is exactly what Cornwall “mompreneur” Sara Muir has done.

“Both of our sons have special needs that require their diet to be gluten-free and dairy-free,” said the young mother of two.  “I found that most of the gluten-free products that were available were not the best tasting, so I began to experiment with cooking and baking my own gluten-free and dairy-free meals, and the boys loved it.”

It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention, and that is certainly what happened to this family.  

As Muir gained knowledge and confidence, she realized that there were likely many other families with the same type of needs who also faced with the difficult task of finding tasty products.  Opening her own business to fill this need seemed like a logical step.

After completing the Self Employment Assistance Program at St. Lawrence College, Ms. Muir began the challenging journey of opening her business, Tasty Alternatives (www.tastyalternatives.com).

“The hardest thing was finding a kitchen location where I could cook and bake at a convenient time for myself and my family, and that fit the required health regulations,” she said.  “The kitchen at St. John’s Presbyterian Church on Second Street is a great location for this, and customers can pick up pre-ordered meals here as well.  The location is central and there is plenty of parking.”

Customers can choose from several dishes, bring it home, and then simply heat and eat.  The menu includes spaghetti and meatballs, stuffed pork chops, cashew chicken, and lasagna.  There is also a great selection of baked goods including chocolate chip cookies, muffins, cupcakes and protein bars (just to mention a few).  Each dish is packaged in single portions, making it easy to feed just one person or several.  

“This is a great story of necessity growing into a passion, and that passion becoming a business,” said Candy Pollard of the Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre.  “As parents, we focus on our own family and their wellbeing.  We soon realize that we are not alone in that need, that there is a gap to be filled.  We wish Ms. Muir great success as she fills a need for her product and moves her business forward.”