Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan - Perth County

• Robert Brindley, Chief Administrative Officer, Town of St. Marys• Jaret Henhoeffer, General Manager, Perth CFDC• Randy Mattice, Economic Development Officer, City of Stratford.This team provided background materials to consider when developing the strategy and insight into localinitiatives, opportunities and barriers. During project meetings, the group also offered input andsuggestions to the work plan, strategy for public consultation and feedback on interim findings reports.Community InputFurther consideration in regards to vision, desired directions, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities andsolutions was offered through the opinions and thoughts of the business community, stakeholders andcitizens. These individuals provided an excellent source of current information. The community responseto the project was exceptional. Over 230 people participated in the consultations.Background Review and ReconnaissanceA comprehensive review of available background literature and studies provided the Project Team with astrong understanding of the current socio-economic conditions in the region. Using the literature and dataprovided by the steering committee in conjunction with data obtained from Statistics Canada and otherkey sources, a current demographic and community profile of the region was completed. This alsoallowed for key patterns of change and trends to be identified for the period 2001-2009.In developing an economic profile, an important consideration was the region’s relative competitiveposition or distinction in southwestern Ontario, as well as that of the broader provincial economy. Incompleting this portion of the analysis and the location quotient analysis that followed, we usedsouthwestern Ontario and that of the Province as a baseline for our comparison and evaluation of theregion’s competitive position as appropriate.Our literature review included: relevant municipal documents (e.g. Official Plans, Development ChargesBackground Study, reports to Council) as well as any relevant regional and provincial publications (e.g.Four County Training Board Trends, Opportunities, Priorities (TOP) report), relevant existing StatisticsCanada data and other select data sources (e.g. Canadian Business Patterns data) as it related to theregion. Particular attention was given to reports and publications that provided insight into the high leveland local trends that impacted the region’s key business, culture, environmental and social sectors.Identification of Key Sectors and OpportunitiesUsing current and historical data obtained from multiple sources, including Statistics Canada, the industryand business base of the region was profiled. This process illuminated growing and emerging sectorbased opportunities as it related to business investment and attraction efforts as well as employmentactivity. The location quotient and shift-share analysis provided an assessment of the economicperformance of the region.Relying on data obtained from Statistics Canada, two digit location quotients were also calculated for2001 and 2006. The results of a more detailed location quotient analysis illuminated the relative degreeof concentration or specialization of a specific industrial/business sector as well as the emergingopportunities relative to the broader region.Perth, St. Marys and Stratford Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan 6 | P age