City Council will be asked Tuesday to approve a $750,000 contribution to the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre to launch a major lottery and gaming drive aimed at attracting up to 200 new jobs here.
The idea, proponents say, is to ensure that the Sault doesn't get left behind in OLG's ongoing modernization plans, and then to move from an OLG-centric economy to a more diversified one based on the global gaming economy and private sector.
A motion on the agenda for Tuesday's City Council meeting calls for $250,000 a year in seed money to be given to the Innovation Centre over the next three years.
The city contribution is expected to crowbar an additional $3.5 million or even $4 million from Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. and private-sector sources.
A draft three-year budget for the initiative shows $3.2 million of $4.7 million in expenditures going to personnel costs for a contract team and project staff.
City councillors will be told tonight that the project will build on an existing Sault Ste. Marie strength: lottery and gaming already accounts for 14 percent of the local knowledge economy, providing a direct payroll of more than $60 million a year and additional benefits estimated in excess of $250 million.
"The concentration of lottery and gaming human resources talent in Sault Ste. Marie as a percent of its workforce is unmatched among global communities and represents a valuable resource for prospective private-sector lottery and gaming companies," the Innovation Centre says in its funding application for the project.
"We recognize this is a significant request. We believe the request corresponds to the importance and urgency of the task." the Innovation Centre's Tom Vair says in notes prepared for his presentation to City Council.
"This cornerstone of our knowledge economy is facing a total transformation over the next 12 to 14 months. How we respond will directly affect where we stand by the end of 2017," Vair says.
The $750,000 request is supported by the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. (EDC).
"The next few months are critical....Lottery and gaming expertise is needed now," says EDC Chief Executive Officer Tom Dodds. "Dedicated human and financial resources are required to establish a group accountable to drive this initiative forward."
The initiative's mission statement calls for development of "a lottery and gaming cluster in Sault Ste. Marie that includes an expanding group of private-sector companies, crown agencies, researchers and service providers to create new knowledge economy jobs, innovation and prosperity in the community."
"There is increased urgency to implement a Sault Ste. Marie lottery and gaming development strategy," Dodds says.
"There is an identifiable risk that failure to act as soon as possible will result in potential revenue and employment loss to the community over the medium and long term."
If approved, the project will result in what Dodds describes as an "integrated, co-ordinated and aligned community-based approach to lottery and gaming development in this city."
EDC and the Innovation Centre are aware of businesses in this sector that are currently weighing Sault Ste. Marie as a potential location for their operations, Dodds says.
Documents to be presented to City Council identify a number of lottery and gaming opportunities that have been pursued in recent months and are starting to pay off:
- Data centre - "A process was undertaken to construct a Tier III data centre in the community which is anticipated to be constructed in 2016. (A private sector provider has been selected, funding application processes are underway, and a technology park is being developed to house the centre)."
- Centre of expertise - "An opportunity was uncovered to attract a global IT services firm to Sault Ste. Marie. This project is advancing and could create up to 25 jobs in the near term and could create a significant number of additional jobs over five years in Sault Ste. Marie."
- Talent management - "The importance of human resource and talent development and attraction has been stressed and a high-level strategy meeting has been held, linking major employers, employment agencies and education institutions together. This confirmed a need for resourced leadership of this component for the Sault Ste. Marie lottery and gaming efforts as a future platform for the broader knowledge economy efforts."
- Modernization proponent meetings - "Sault Ste. Marie stakeholders worked with OLG to conduct community presentations to the three proponents bidding on the lottery business and provide community information within the data room. Similarly, community stakeholders have presented the city’s business case to casino operators who are bidding on the northern bundle."
- Community marketing - "Outreach activities were undertaken to promote the community at major gaming conferences which has resulted in promising leads for company attraction (one international conference; four North American conferences have been attended resulting in over 75 contacts for business attraction with one new firm establishing a sales office here). An emerging opportunity in the education sector is currently being explored with prospective lottery and gaming partners and Sault Ste. Marie’s post-secondary institutions."
The $750,000 city grant would come from an economic development fund established by City Council to provide $500,000 for economic diversification projects,
The fund has $101,860 uncommitted from 2014 and earlier, and $471,675 uncommitted this year.
Tuesday's City Council meeting will be livestreamed on Local 2 beginning at 4:30 p.m.
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