The achievements and challenges Cobourg has experienced over the past year in economic development were shared at council's committee-of-the-whole meeting Tuesday by Small Business Facilitator Melissa Graham and Investment Attraction Specialist TJ Flynn.
One key issue Flynn identified is the need for the proper digital infrastructure, which can be a deal-maker or -breaker.
“You need broadband connectivity that will allow high-speed activities for things like artificial intelligence and robotics,” he said.
“If our factories aren't prepared for that, in 15 years they will still be there but they won't be competitive.”
The SmartNorthumberland digital strategy promises to bring some capacity to town, but some communities – like Stratford, Ont., and Olds, Alta. - have taken the bull by the horns and founded their own ISP. But it's not cheap, he said. For a population of 10,000, Olds spent $23-million on this project.
It's something they will be approaching council on at a later date, with a proposal to hire a consultant for this issue.
Flynn also listed the challenge of the town's low site inventory. Though the 90,000-sq.-ft. Weston building will soon become vacant in the Northam Industrial Park, the town's vacant-site inventory only has about 10 acres that could be considered immediately available for development – though there are other parcels of land in varying stages of preparation.
Graham spoke of site-plan approvals in process and an active offer-to-purchase, which promise to create almost 70 full-time jobs (paying roughly $36,500 per year) and result in a $2.5-million economic impact on the community.
The speakers screened two promotional videos that showed off what the town has to offer. As one said in its last line, “Cobourg has it all, but welcomes more” and invites viewers to visit investcobourg.ca.
Councillors congratulated the two on their good work, and Deputy Mayor Suzanne Seguin said she would like to see such reports twice a year in the future.
