The Chatham-Kent Economic Development Offices. (BlackburnNews.com file photo)The Chatham-Kent Economic Development Offices. (BlackburnNews.com file photo)
Chatham

CK Economic Development Looks Ahead To 'Healthy' 2018

Chatham-Kent residents can look forward to a year of growth, as companies continue to expand in the municipality.

Chatham-Kent’s Acting Director of Economic Development Stuart McFadden says from what he can see on the board right now, it is going to be a "very healthy 2018" economically in the municipality.

"Our goals are similar to 2017 -- to try to make it easy for people to be able to invest, grow their businesses, and hire more people... that's what we do," says McFadden.

McFadden says the community will start to see the payoff of the department's work soon.

"I think in 2017 we set a lot of the foundation for what you're going to see unroll in 2018. We have a number of companies that are looking to expand and some of them received funding to help support that growth," says McFadden.

McFadden says it is always a priority for the economic development department to connect companies with employees and encourage people to work in Chatham-Kent.

"We still have lots of work that needs to be done with regards to the labour issues that some of the companies are running into. We have jobs that are available and we have issues with finding and attracting the people to be able to fill those positions. I think that's one of our goals for 2018... to make sure that we are making people aware of the opportunities in Chatham-Kent," he explains.

McFadden says it is also important for parents to talk to their children about job opportunities in Chatham-Kent and what type of education is best suited for those positions.

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