A big ask

City council has approved $210,000 in funding requests from the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation (SSMEDC) to spend on three separate projects.

The funding comes from the city’s Economic Diversification Fund (EDF).

One request was for $50,000 for what the EDC calls a Sustainable Growth and Development Stewardship Strategy.

The $50,000 will involve the EDC working with private and public sector community partners, including the city of Sault Ste. Marie, to come up with long-term recommendations and an action plan to increase the Sault’s population by at least an additional 5,000 people by 2020, increase employment by an additional 2,500 people, increase the labor force by at least an additional 2,700 people, increase tax assessment and increase the Sault’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to  $3.1 billion annually, up from $2.785 billion in 2013.

"We're growing at a very slow rate (hence the need for a strategy)," EDC CEO Tom Dodds told council.

An EDC report to council said the Sault’s population growth is “very modest and lags well behind the population it had in the 80s and 90s,” with a 6.8 percent drop in population from 1996 to 2001 (approximately 4,500 people), and continues to fall short in GDP and population growth in comparison to other communities in Ontario and Canada-wide.

The EDC report calls for growth in population and economic prosperity by further developing the Sault’s postsecondary education sector, healthcare services, energy projects, serviced industrial/commercial lands and buildings to attract businesses as well as continuing to encourage steel production and development of the Port of Algoma.

A second EDC request for $60,000 was also approved by council.

The money, to be spent over two years, will be paid to an EDC employee hired on a contract basis, to help coordinate, manage and implement Canal District projects.

A matching amount of $60,000 would come from the EDC and $75,000 from Riversedge Developments for Canal District initiatives, and long-term funding from the provincial and federal governments is being sought.

It is hoped 40 to 80 new jobs will be created annually beginning in 2015 and running through to 2020 through Canal District initiatives, increasing tax assessments and creating economic diversification.

Canal District initiatives include a continued casino presence in the area, a new ACR tour train station, the Superior Skills Program to retrain and employ people currently involved with Ontario Works, redevelopment of the Parks Canada Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site of Canada, development of the Farmers Market at Mill Market, the business incubator in the city’s downtown, Brookfield Clergue Power Station improvements, development of the Esposito Park pump track, development of the Gateway site (Gateway Signature Park), Gore Street improvements, John Rowswell Hub Trail extensions, and improvements to Huron Street and Bay Street.

Planned Destination North components, at the Riversedge Developments site, include a year-round farmers market, an arts and entertainment venue along with tourism initiatives, including a unique insect showcase, known as Entomica.

The EDC also requested $100,000 from the EDF to maintain its ongoing mission to assist in promoting and growing Sault Ste. Marie’s lottery and gaming sector.

The mission, to promote Sault Ste. Marie as a 'Globally Recognized Centre of Excellence for Lottery and Gaming Businesses' involves retaining the current number of lottery and gaming jobs in the community (representing $60 million in annual payroll for those involved in lottery and gaming employment locally) and adding new lottery and gaming related jobs.

"I feel optimistic but we have to step on the gas," Dodds told council, emphasizing the need for retaining local lottery and gaming jobs and attracting new ones. 

The EDC aims to help create 400 to 500 new jobs in information and communications technology (ICT) over the next three to five years as it relates to the lottery and gaming sector and establish the Sault as a lottery and gaming cluster, as Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) undergoes its modernization  process.

It is hoped three to five new lottery and gaming related businesses can be brought to the community.

The EDC is also seeking $200,000 from the provincial and federal governments ($100,000 each) to help with its lottery and gaming strategy.