Moving Forward Together – The Path To Economic Prosperity
By Kyla Morgan, Durham College
 The third biennial Durham Economic Prosperity Conference was a resounding success and brought together over 120 community, academia and industry leaders to discuss strategies aimed at improving Durham Region and facilitating its economic growth.
Dianne Buckner, host of CBC’s Dragons’ Den, moderated the November 5th invitation-only event at the Ajax Convention Centre. She led the group through a morning of forums and interactive panels. Conference delegates discussed the need for a comprehensive marketing and branding plan.
CFRB’s John Tory said the region should work together more efficiently and then partner with other municipalities like Toronto, Peel and Halton to ensure productivity. “(It’s) crucial to our success going forward if we’re going to have the investments and the jobs that we need,” Tory said. He stated the government can’t afford all the necessary funding so the region needs to look to the private sector.
Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) president Jayson Myers said, “Business as usual is not an option. You must prioritize and focus on what can be done at a local level to make a difference regionally, provincially and nationally. Become an integral part of customer and supplier success and focus on solutions, not products.”
Durham Region’s information technology and other target sectors have been part of the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance’s (GTMA) agenda for the past few years. GTMA works with local economic development offices and the Durham Strategic Energy Alliance (DSEA) to further incorporate awareness of the region.
“The DSEA is an example of what a region needs to do to differentiate itself,” said GTMA president and COO George Hanus. “Choose a sector of competitive advantage, form an alliance of like-minded municipal and regional public and private sector supporters and co-operate in making a region’s expertise and infrastructure known to potential investors.”
While speakers discussed the overall need for regional branding, Organization CANDU Industries (OCI) president Dr. Neil Alexander focused on nuclear power. He wants all levels of government involved in developing a strategic plan to see nuclear power plants built and used appropriately. Alexander said it will benefit Canadians and create manufacturing opportunities for decades.
Ideas like exploring ways to incorporate CO₂ into nano-technology or bio-chemical products without contaminating the atmosphere were presented by UOIT provost Richard Marceau. “CO₂ may actually be one of the important feed-stocks for value-added product-generation that humanity can think of,” he said. Oshawa post-secondary institutions Durham College and UOIT have received government funding for research-based projects with local business. These partnerships aim to accelerate innovation and produce working models of commercialized products.
Another idea presented at the conference by Marceau was facilitating the flow of electricity across provincial borders. “It would give us the opportunity to build the design and deliver the products that would enable us to create a truly continental electric grid which is something that doesn’t exist yet in the world,” he said.
John Wright, senior public affairs vice-president at Ipsos Reid said Durham also needs to focus on social innovation. He said positioning Durham Region is not just about geography or brains or incentives. It’s about public sentiment. “If you want people to invest in Durham, if you want people to grow in Durham … you also have to talk about the people that are here,” he said. Whatever initiatives the region undertakes, it will require a skilled work force. Durham’s post-secondary institutions are preparing students for in-demand jobs and working with the region to keep graduates here. Competitive house prices mixed with business (tax) incentives and community living is luring prospective employees and employers to the area. The Durham immigration portal also helps grow emerging industries and in replenishing the aging workforce.
Canada’s ties with the United States are also part of Durham’s prosperity goals.
Birgit Matthiesen, President Obama’s government relations adviser for the CME, discussed her presence on Capitol Hill in Washington to strengthen Canada’s cross-border trade relationship with the United States. She said the importing of lower quality standards from overseas has sparked an increased focus on border safety.
“Americans make no distinction about their borders,” she said. New agencies will ensure added border compliance next year. She said more compliance means more fees. She is striving for border policies to reflect the unique relationship between the United States and Canada. These fees will most likely be absorbed by Canadian businesses. Durham export enterprises need to prepare for these potential fees while also trying to turn a profit with the volatile Canadian dollar. “The only way we can compete under these conditions is by providing a specialized product (or) service that can sell anywhere in the world at a premium,” said Matthiesen.
Trucks are still a major mover of cross-border products. To facilitate this traffic and the population increase in the region, Garth Johns, Durham Region’s commissioner of human resources, discussed the region’s transportation plans, currently being updated. Walking and bike trails, increased bus transit, highway expansion and widening and a region-wide transit plan are included. Johns also discussed GO Transit’s extension plan to Bowmanville and said 30,000 tonnes of locally produced grains will be shipped from Oshawa’s harbour in 2010. “Every one of those tonnes represents a $10 savings to local farmers’ transportation costs. That’s a huge boost for us,” said Johns. The harbour also presents a potential tourism destination and with the Buttonville airport closure, some operations have already shifted to the Oshawa airport.
Durham College multi-media students filmed the Conference with the goal of compiling a media package to display coverage of the Conference which will be available on DVD and the website early in 2011.
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