Welcome to Season 6 of ‘Making it in Ontario’, the official podcast of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing! To kick this season off, Nick and Brendan are joined by Jay Amer, the Executive Director of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission (of which the Trillium Network is a member) and Chris King, the CEO of the Quinte Economic Development Commission.
The first half of the episode focuses on the competitive advantages associated with the ‘not Toronto’ parts of Ontario, in this case parts east. More specifically, it focuses on eastern Ontario’s business attraction and retention strategies, and on economic developer’s efforts related to workforce development.
The second half of the episode focuses on Jay and Chris’ thoughts on the availability of industrial land in Ontario, a subject on which the Trillium Network has written extensively. The discussion here emphasizes the importance of industrial land. Jay and Chris explain to Nick and Brendan how investing in employment lands without a guaranteed return (i.e. a new factory) is one of the most pressing issues related to the availability of industrial land.