Oakville Economic Development Wins Top National Award

"Oakville is a great place to live and work," Mayor Rob Burton said. "Our strategy is about making it easy to do business here and it capitalizes on our strengths: an educated workforce; established, knowledge-based industries; Sheridan College's international reputation in digital media; and our proximity to the life science hubs of Hamilton and Toronto."

The Economic Development Strategy was approved by Council in July of this year and will guide the town as it builds a healthy business environment that is strong, diversified and prosperous.

"The town's submission was one of several from across the country, and we were very proud to accept this national award on behalf of the town," said Dorothy St. George, Director of Economic Development. "We are confident this strategy will steer the town in the right direction and this award echoes that sentiment."

Matthew Fischer, president of Matthew Fischer & Associates Inc., was on the judging panel for the awards and commented on Oakville's win.

"From my perspective, the Oakville strategy stood out because it dealt directly with the land constraints the town is facing. The economic development strategy is focused on the high value-added industrial sectors that best suit the Oakville labour force profile without trying to be all things to all people. It was also easy to understand and readers could clearly see the call to action. Congratulations again on the win."
  
The town received $20,000 in federal funding from the Community Investment Support Program (CISP) to develop the Economic Development Strategy. The initiatives outlined in the strategy will improve the quality of service to the business community, help bring new employment lands on board, develop new sectors, and optimize the use of employment lands. Next steps include preparing the employment lands at Winston Park West for services as well as improving the development approval process, creating a more streamlined and efficient system.

In addition, the town was recognized with the EDAC marketing award for their electronic Economic Development newsletter, which is sent out quarterly to members of council, town staff, the business community and industrial commercial realtors. The newsletter provides development highlights, business statistics and issues of interest.

The Town of Oakville Economic Development Strategy can be found on the town's Economic Development web page. If you'd like to receive the Economic Development newsletter, please send an email to mlaunslager@oakville.ca.

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For more information contact:
Dorothy St. George
Director, Economic Development
Town of Oakville
905-338-4240
dstgeorge@oakville.ca  

Mary Jo Milhomens
Senior Communications Advisor
Town of Oakville
905-338-4244
mmilhomens@oakville.ca

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