Summer2018TillsonburgNewsletter

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Tillsonburg‘s Plan attracting food companies! Tillsonburg Town Council recently approved four applications to attract investment and create jobs under the Town’s Community Improvement Plan. These applications will support investments n  Expand the existing freezer; n  Replace existing lighting with high efficiency LED lighting; n  Increase the energy efficiency of the existing building

by two food processing companies and two large residential investments in the Downtown core. The investments include: 10 CLEARVIEW DR Support for the refurbishment of a 45,000 square foot heavy industrial building to a Federally certified food grade facility to accommodate the relocation of Shaw’s Ice Cream production facility with up to 15 employees to the Town. The new location will allow for an expansion, adoption of more efficient equipment, higher volume throughput, increased refrigerated and dry storage, and a more worker friendly environment. 20 VANCE DR Support for an expansion to Tillsonburg Custom Foods existing food processing company to: n  Expand the raw production facility n  Add two fully cooked processing lines;

Investment will create up to 30 new jobs and grow Tillsonburg’s food sector. 253 BROADWAY Support for a $5 M commercial/ residential building with one commercial unit and 28 apartments that will strengthen the downtown core 83 ROLPH ST Support for an investment of $3.5 Million to: n  Convert 4 floors of former school space into 43 rental units; n  Create an outdoor amenity area; n  Create an outdoor recreation/ BBQ area; n  Create an private pet park; and, n  Create a reading garden. The developer will also be making the building accessible.

Members of Council, including the Mayor, the late Councillor Stephenson, and Town staff on their tour of Tillsonburg Custom Foods renovated and expanded facility.

See Tillsonburg’s Plan continued on Page 4

New Outdoor Recreation Pad for the Town!

The Town of Tillsonburg is pleased to support the development of a new recreational pad in Memorial Park in memory of community builder J.L. Scott McLean. The project is being led by the “J.L. Scott McLean Legacy Fund” committee and they need your help! With support from the community, the vision is to build a multi-use recreation pad offering unscheduled access for ice hockey, floor hockey and basketball activities. Fundraising is well underway and construction is scheduled for completion in Fall 2018.

For more information, please visit their website at www.jlscottmcleanlegacymemorialfund.com.

For more information contact: CEPHAS PANSCHOW , Ec.D. Development Commissioner cpanschow@tillsonburg.ca T: 519.688.3009, ext. 3250 www.tillsonburg.ca

The Town of Tillsonburg is a progressive and growing town of 16,000 people that is strategically located in the centre of Ontario’s agriculture and manufacturing heartland. The Town is working aggressively to leverage its location along Canada’s Trade Corridor, Highway 401, to position the municipally as best-in-class for investment by cutting red tape, streamlining processes and lowering its business and development costs. For more information visit www.tillsonburg.ca or www.discovertillsonburg.ca.

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Hayhoe Homes ramping up their Andrews Crossing development

Save on Energy is Helping Businesses Become Energy Efficient If you are a business owner you may want to look into Save on Energy`s guide to transforming your business with energy efficiency! The guide is targeted towards small – medium business owners looking to save on energy expenses and become more sustainable. Whether you own a restaurant, grocery store, retail business, or even an office building, Save on Energy offers programs, instructional manuals, and online information to help with your specific needs. With tips on saving energy on lighting, refrigeration, heating, air conditioning, and many more, Save on Energy can help you take the steps you need to become an energy sustainable business! For more information on Save on Energy business programs or ways to save, visit www.saveonenergy.ca or call Tillsonburg Hydro at 519.842.9200. participated in four seasons in the National Hockey League. For over 30 years, Hayhoe Homes have been contributing to communities like Tillsonburg. With their innovative designs and options, Tillsonburg is happy to support Hayhoe’s continued success in our community. The subdivision is located east of Quarter- Town Line, between Concession Street and Sanders Crescent. It is expected to have a total of 155 detached homes and 28 town homes.

With summer in full swing, Hayhoe Homes is busy digging foundations and working towards home closings in their Andrew Crossing subdivision! The Tarion-award winning developer announced plans for their fourth Tillsonburg subdivision in 2017 and has been issued over 40 permits to date. “We’ve had great success in Tillsonburg over the past few years,” says Joe Hayhoe, Director of Marketing for

Hayhoe Homes. “Park Place, Reynolds Way and Glendale West all sold out very quickly and we are seeing great interest in Andrews Crossing as well.” The new neighborhood dubbed “Andrews Crossing” was named in honour of Lloyd Andrews, a local hockey legend in the 1920s. Born in raised in Tillsonburg, Andrews was a team member for the Toronto’s St. Patrick’s team where he

Youth Job Connection Program Are you a youth searching for employment or know of someone who is? If so, you may n  Job shadowing and Informational interviewing opportunities n  A job placement opportunity after

want to visit the Multi-Service Centre’s Employment Services Division as they specialize in providing guidance to youth struggling to find jobs. The Youth Job Connection program provides monthly workshops for youth who are not working or in school, but striving to improve their lives. The 3 week workshop series include: n  Pre-employment workshops that builds confidence by helping youth to develop personal, transferrable and job-matching skills

fulfilling the required workshop hours. To be eligible for Youth Job Connection, participants must be: ages 15-29, unemployed, not in education and facing social/educational challenges that inhibit their personal growth. To learn more about the program, call (519) 842-9000 or email Multiservice Centre at info@multiservicecentre.com

Key Stats

Data sources: Oxford County data are estimates by Metro Economics while Elgin, Middlesex & Oxford counties data is CANSIM, Table 282-0122, 3-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

MARCH 2018

APRIL 2018

Oxford County

7.2%

6.7%

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE

2018

2017

% DIFFERENCE

Month

$338,962 $325,287

$301,888 $304,541

12.28% 6.81%

YTD

*Information Courtesy of Tillsonburg District Real Estate Board

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County of Oxford maintains Vacant Unit Rebate Program

SOMA Welcomes North Middlesex The Southwestern Ontario Marketing Alliance (SOMA) and members, including the Town of Tillsonburg welcome the Municipality of North Middlesex as a new member! SOMA is one of the longest established regional marketing organizations in Ontario and enables small and mid-size municipalities to share resources and costs when seeking to attract foreign direct investment. Current members of SOMA include Ingersoll, Stratford, St. Thomas, Tillsonburg, Woodstock and the County of Perth.

The Town of Tillsonburg is pleased to support the continuation of the Vacant Unit Rebate program in the County of Oxford. Subsequent to Provincial legislation that eliminated the requirement to offer this program to property owners, many municipalities (e.g. Toronto, York, Hamilton) introduced bylaws to eliminate the rebate in their jurisdictions. Through an extensive public consultation process, the Oxford County Council made the decision to keep the program while introducing a five-year cap on eligibility. “I’m pleased that Oxford County Council, with input from property owners, has decided to keep this program,” says Tillsonburg Mayor Stephen Molnar. “This is a good example of how government can engage the public and develop a solution that is better for everyone.” Marwood Metal Fabrication Ltd. has announced that it will begin operating as Marwood International Inc. as of June 1. Marwood International is an award-winning, automotive stamping, modular assembly, and e-coating company that is focused on supplying a global customer footprint with innovative products and processes. With a heightened awareness on light weighting & waste reduction initiatives Marwood International has grown from a small local business to an internationally recognized supplier. While the company has shown significant growth over the past 27 years it has not forgotten its core principles and roots. The small company feel with big company technological

Members of the public were invited to participate through the process and input was received from businesses and organizations across the County, including the Tillsonburg District Chamber of Commerce, the Tillsonburg economic Development Committee and private property owners. “I’m proud of how our community worked together to provide input into this process,” says David Calder, Chief Administrative Officer. “Keeping this program will make Oxford and Tillsonburg more competitive than other areas and support investment and growth in our communities”.

SOMA recently completed a tour of all the member communities as part of their familiarization tour

“The SOMA Board is thrilled to welcome the Municipality of North Middlesex into the SOMA organization and we look forward to their active participation in the foreign direct investment program initiated by SOMA”, says Len Magyar, President. Magyar indicated that “there is no question that by working collaboratively our member municipalities can better deliver their ‘investment ready’ message much further afield and much more economically than they can on their own”. Mayor Don Shipway indicated that he has followed the work that SOMA has done in the past and looks forward to opportunities where the Municipality of North Middlesex can be more actively involved. “From our analysis SOMA was very successful in generating a large number of leads and contacts for their members through 15 different trade events in 2017 alone” according to Justin Dias, the Director of Economic Development and Community Services for North Middlesex.

Marwood goes International with new name!

capabilities combined with an attitude of never being satisfied is what has set Marwood apart from the field. Marwood International currently employs a large and creative team with more than 150 different job positions. The organization is proud to have received numerous community and manufacturing awards. Marwood International has a current streak of 10 consecutive years without any lost time, work related accidents. This name and overall brand change is a direct reflection of the ever- growing technology of lightweight car parts being made with new and exotic materials and their business relationships expanding to a more global presence. They are proud to be More Than Metal!

The Town of Tillsonburg is pleased to partner with the County of Oxford to install a Level 2 Electric Vehicle charging station behind the Clock Tower in the Downtown. The installation was funded through the Ministry of Transportation’s Electric Vehicle Charge Ontario (EVCO) program. The new charger was unveiled as part of the Turtlefest Car Show, which, for the first time, included an Electric Vehicle display sponsored in part by the ChargerCrew.ca. On hand to celebrate are Tillsonburg Mayor Stephen Molnar, County of Oxford CAO Peter Crockett, and Tillsonburg Hydro CEO Michael Desroches as well as electric vehicle owners from Tillsonburg and the London and Kitchener electric vehicle associations.

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Town of Tillsonburg introduces Bonds to help developers

Accelerate with an internship! The Accelerate Grant (www.mitacs.ca/en/ programs/accelerate ) is an opportunity to submit a proposal to the Mitacs Company with the chance to win a four-month internship with a $15,000 grant. To be eligible your team must include a student, a supervising professor, and a partner organization to develop a research project and present it via Mitacs representation. EMC celebrates 20 year anniversary Congratulations to the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) on achieving their 20th anniversary this year. EMC has developed thousands of trusted relationships with manufacturers across Canada over the years and have established over 60 consortiums regions. EMC dedicates their success to the commitment of their members, and support of their dedicated team and plan to continue demonstrating innovation and excellence every day for the years to come. TILLSONBURG’S PLAN continued from page 1 “Tillsonburg Town Council is pleased to support these investments in our community” says Tillsonburg Mayor Stephen Molnar. “Our Community Improvement Plan provides an incentive for property owners to re-invest and rehabilitate dated facilities to enable their re-use for new purposes while creating jobs for our residents”, he adds. Please visit www.tillsonburg.ca/CIP for additional information regarding the new program. Interested parties are encouraged to contact the Economic Development Office if they have any questions relating to the program. “The Town updated its CIP program in 2017 with extensive input from our economic Development Committee, County Planning and Economic Development Departments”, says Town CAO David Calder, “and the success we are seeing is due in part to the innovative contributions they made to re-establishing this program”.

Town council recently approved the use of development bonds as an alternative way for developers to meet their security deposit obligations required for new construction projects. These bonds can be used instead of cash or letters of credit and allows the developer to provide security without impacting their cash flow. A development bond is a relatively new financial tool that is just starting to be used in Canada. The Town of Tillsonburg received a request from a local developer to provide this tool and, after conducting some due diligence, it was determined that this is a suitable way to enable flexibility for the developer while protecting the Town. Providing this option is just another way that the Town is working to create a more business friendly environment. Earlier this year, 324 local employers from the London Economic Region (Elgin County, Middlesex County, Oxford County, the City of London, and City of St. Thomas) completed the EmployerOne annual survey, where they provided information on their organizations workforce. The EmployerOne survey is a comprehensive survey of local employers focused on the demand-side of the London-region labour market. The annual survey collects information on a range of Human Resources issues: labour turnover, hard-to-fill position, recruitment difficulties, and current and future skill shortages. KEY FINDINGS: n  81% of respondent said they hired in 2017, 69% of respondents plan to hire in 2018 and 42% of those hires are due to expansion plans n  Top hires in 2017 included: full-time and part-time occupations in manufacturing and sales and service occupations

“Tillsonburg has a long history of continuous improvement and this is just another example of how we work with investors to improve the services we offer” says Stephan Molnar, Tillsonburg Mayor. The new bonds do not restrict developer’s balance sheets as a letter of credit would. Instead, bonds will be granted by insurers allowing developers to access cash in a way not normally possible with letters of credit. “This change will have a real impact and enable developers, especially small and medium developers, to manage their projects more effectively resulting in increased levels of development in the municipality.” says David Calder, Tillsonburg` s CAO. n  38% of respondents said they hired a youth, 27% hired someone who is over 55, and 20% hired a visible minority n  Hard-to-fill positions in 2017 include: trades helpers, construction labourers, industrial trades, and service representatives n  Top planned hires for 2018 include: full-time and seasonal sales and service jobs, jobs in manufacturing, and contract trade jobs n  43% of participating businesses rank the availability of qualified workers in the region as excellent or good n  Top 3 recruitment methods: personal contacts, online jobs boards, and company website n  Employers value work ethic, self- motivation, and teamwork/interpersonal skills in employees n  80% of participating businesses provided professional development or training for employees

EmployerOne Survey Results

Thanks to Co-op student Sharon Quach for her assistance in preparing this newsletter

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