Sarnia-Lambton’s business sector got a gold star from Ontario’s economic development minister, after a roundtable discussion with 26 companies and business organizations in Sarnia Friday.
“After meeting with these folks, I really left with the impression that they’ve really got their act together when it comes to working to build this cluster and make it even stronger,” said Brad Duguid.
Media wasn’t invited to attend the meeting, but Duguid said afterward that talks centred around businesses and government continuing to partner together to move forward in economic development efforts and in attracting foreign investment.
“You’ve got some fantastic strengths here that are world class and give you a unique business cluster … in North America that can compete with anyone,” he said.
Sarnia-Lambton’s business sector and the province are in sync about the importance of focusing on innovation, producing a talented, skilled workforce, and investing in infrastructure, he said.
Going into the meeting, Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce president Rory Ring said one of the top topics of discussion would be an estimated $3.5-million oversized load corridor development plan.
The idea is to make a path for Sarnia-Lambton-produced industrial modules to get to the St. Clair River, en route to the Alberta oil sands.
Officials last year said the work would include burying or raising hydro lines and softening street corners to allow for sharp turns, but that more studies into the business case could be needed.
“The proposal was put forward as something that’s being looked at, the business case is being put together now by the industry, by the chamber,” Duguid said.
“And what we committed to do was to work together very closely to ensure that the efforts with regard to communications with the provincial government will continue to take place,” he said, noting that could mean opening doors provincially to help the project move forward.
“We left the meeting with a determination to work really hard together to try to make it happen,” he said.
The same sort of exchange happened when the topic of a proposed $10-billion oil sands refinery, dubbed the Sarnia-Lambton Advanced Bitumen Energy Refinery (SABER) project, came up, Duguid said, noting it was touted as an example of innovative projects going on locally.
“We just said that we would continue to work together to help in whatever way we could, and to ensure that the group gets access to whatever programs are available,” he said.
tyler.kula@sunmedia.ca
http://www.theobserver.ca/2015/05/29/brad-duguid-met-with-26-sarnia-lambton-agencies-friday