Instead of "biting at each others ankles," Chatham-Kent's economic development agency hopes a regional approach will come to fruition as Windsor ushers in a new CEO.
Director of Economic Development Services Michael Burton says the two corporations need to work together in attracting investment. "Because most of the investment attraction is off-shore," he says. "We feel that we could save money, be more efficient and probably be more effective as a group."
But Burton doesn't see the two organizations merging. "It probably would be a separate organization with funding directed toward it. In other words, part of my budget goes to investment attraction, part of Windsor's does," Burton explains. "So that money would be redirected to support a combined effort to support investment attraction."
Right now Burton says of the five economic development files in his portfolio, two are also being chased by Windsor. With a regional agency he says the resources can be somewhat shared in attracting these same investors.
This isn't a new concept, in fact Burton says it's something that's proven to work elsewhere in Canada. "This has been developed in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) for many years, the Durham region is doing it, Montreal is looking at it to have more impact on the international stage," he says. "We think it's time, at least to look at it, to investigate the pros and cons of it."