By Cecilia Nasmith

The investment opportunities that could benefit Northumberland County are out there, Director of Economic Development and Tourism Dan Borowec says, and the enquiries are coming in.

To move the needle from expressions of interest to intentions to invest, Borowec sees the next step as an Employment Lands Infrastructure Assessment.

The discussion took place at the August meeting of the Economic Development, Tourism, Land Use Planning Committee, which was told of “considerable demand for information related to employment lands, in particular infrastructure development.”

In many cases, Borowec said, available lands are not serviced and they are then fielding requests for information related to service options.

“As part of the bigger picture, there's a significant interest in Northumberland,” he said.

“As you are probably well aware, we are probably the final frontier in terms of growth and development and, that being the case, I think we can provide a better level of service if we have information we can provide both investors and developers as to what we have, what the requirements are in order to service.”

Borowec expressed optimism for the possibility of funding support toward infrastructure investment county-wide.

“We are in a competitive marketplace,” he said, citing the recent announcement of a new Belgian battery plant to be built in Loyalist Township.

“That indicates there's a willingness of investors to move out of the GTA.”

Committee member Gail Latchford said this problem is at least 30 years old, citing other examples, such as the Telus development that took Northumberland off its list when General Foods closed and went to Hastings County.

“We need jobs here, and we need good-paying jobs. We have really been lacking in manufacturing, etc.,” Latchford said.

“I agree with this. I think the province and probably the Feds are willing to invest money in order for things to move forward.

“Most of the space west of us has been used up and we have been left out, so I am very supportive of this initiative.”

Committee member Bob Crate of Trent Hills pointed out that, though development tends to be close to Highway 401, “the seven member municipalities would all benefit from anything that came into the county.”

Borowec said that a lot of the work that would need to be done has already been completed by the consultants working on the update of the county's Official Plan, estimating that getting the remainder of the information could possibly take as little as 60 to 90 days. He had no figures on what it might cost, but gave an estimate of $75,000 to $125,000.

The committee will recommend to county council that it direct staff to undertake this project.