Hey! Somebody you know is now running NOHFC!

NEWS RELEASES

DAVID ORAZIETTI, MPP

SAULT STE. MARIE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

************************* Orazietti announces return of NOHFC executive director position to Sault Ste. Marie

Province selects local to oversee Ontario’s $90 million Northern Economic Development Fund

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON - The provincial government has selected Bruce Strapp for the position of executive director of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).

The executive director position will be located in Sault Ste. Marie at the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry’s office on Foster Drive, David Orazietti MPP announced today.

“I would like to congratulate Bruce Strapp on being selected as the executive director of Ontario’s NOHFC where he will manage a critically important economic development fund that continues to create hundreds of new jobs in our city,” said Orazietti. “I have worked with Bruce on many successful projects in our community while he was the CEO of the city’s Economic Development Corporation and I am confident he will do an excellent job in directing what will become a $100 million economic development fund next year.”

With 30 years in Northern Ontario in both the private and public sectors, Bruce Stapp joins the NOHFC from the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation where he was the Chief Executive Officer since 1992.

He has also worked as executive director for the Timmins Economic Development Corporation and Red Lake District Economic Development Corporation.

He owned and operated Strapp Management & Expediting Services and he worked as operations manager and technologist at Getty Canadian Metals Ltd. - Mayman Exploration Services.

In 2007 the McGuinty government committed to increase the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation from $60 million to $100 million over four years and is presently on target to reach that goal by 2011.

Since 2003, the NOHFC has contributed more than $570 million to 3,400 projects in Northern Ontario and more than $40 million to over 350 projects in Sault Ste. Marie.

These investments have resulted in new jobs in the community and allowed for a record-breaking construction boom that is already one of the best ever recorded, with three months remaining in the construction year.

The highest year on record was 2007 when $230 million in construction was recorded in Sault Ste. Marie.

In 2009-2010 the NOHFC’s programs have led to more than 940 projects across northern Ontario, which has helped create and retain more than 2,300 jobs for Northerners.

Some of the key investments through NOHFC that have created and retained jobs in Sault Ste. Marie include:

- $5 million Agawa Canyon Tour Train

- $4.7 million Essar Centre

- $2.5 million Heliene Canada Inc.: solar module manufacturing plant

- $2 million Sault College: IT infrastructure, Multi-Media Centre, Wind Energy Training Centre

- $2.1 million Flakeboard Ltd. expansion

- $2 million Ellsin Environmental Ltd.: tire recycling plant

- $1.5 million Huron Central Rail line ($16.5 million total)

- $1.6 million hub trail and waterfront walkway expansion ($3.1 million total)

- $1 million Algoma Public Health: technology

- $1 million City: Emergency Response Centre, EMS ($2.2 million total).

Quick facts

The 2010 Ontario Budget allocated a total of $200 million this year to programs that support the people, businesses and industries of the North that were affected by the global recession.

The province is also investing $1.2 billion in infrastructure throughout northern Ontario.

************************* Strapp leaving the Economic Development Corp. to head NOHFC

SAULKT STE> MARIE, ON (October 5, 2010) - Bruce Strapp, the longtime CEO of the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation, will be stepping own from his position effective October 15.

He has accepted a post as executive director of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the economic development arm of the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.

Strapp has been with the SSMEDC for 18 years.

“It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the SSMEDC board and lead such a dynamic and dedicated staff team,” says Strapp. “The volunteers and staff during my career have been passionate and hard working to make the Sault a better place to live, learn, work and play.”

With a degree in geography from the University of Toronto, Bruce began his career in the mine exploration industry and, while in Red Lake was, offered an economic development position in the Northwestern Ontario community.

Later, he led the economic development team in Timmins, which gave him a chance to move back to the community where his father was a United Church minister.

In 1992, opportunity knocked again, and Sault Ste. Marie - which was experiencing challenging economic times - pulled Bruce in, and he became head of the SSMEDC.

During his tenure at the SSMEDC, Bruce was responsible for driving a number of initiatives - from the Destiny Sault Ste. Marie economic diversification strategy, to the build out of the local green sector, to the development of the contact centre industry.

In fact, his efforts led to him receiving the 2009 Economic Developer of the Year Award from the Economic Developers Council of Ontario.

Put simply, his legacy at the SSMEDC is remarkable, and he will continue to fight for Sault Ste. Marie - and Northern Ontario as a whole - in his new position for the province’s Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.

The board members, volunteers and staff team at the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation will dearly miss Bruce, his warm personality and his passion for the community.

"The board of directors regrettably accepts Bruce’s resignation,” says Greg Punch, SSMEDC president and board chair. “He has been the driving force of economic development in our community for the last 18 years, and his knowledge, experience and hard work will be missed greatly. On behalf of the board, I extend best wishes and success to Bruce on his appointment as executive director of the NOHFC. He will be a great asset to Northern Ontario."

Dave Murphy, executive director of the SSMEDC’s Business Sault Ste. Marie division, will be the corporation’s acting CEO until a permanent replacement is found.

Murphy is a former senior staffer with the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.

The SSMEDC will be competitively recruiting for a new, permanent chief executive officer in the near future.

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