Peterborough, on Working in Unison

Peterborough, ON – Working in Unison

Situated in scenic Central Ontario, Peterborough & the Kawarthas is a region with an economy as diverse as its natural landscape. With a natural environment that includes shining waterways, 100,000 hectares of prime agricultural land, well-preserved wilderness areas, breathtaking trail networks and jaw-dropping underground caverns linked to the amenities of a vibrant city are what sets Peterborough & the Kawarthas apart from other similar regions in Ontario. The region's quality of life that allows people to blend the best of small town, cottage living with the convenience of a vibrant city centre adds to the region’s magnetism – drawing visitors, entrepreneurs and professionals to the area.

"We have such a wonderful environment outside of the city that residents and visitors can enjoy," says J. Murray Jones, Warden of the County of Peterborough. "It's like lifting up the blind and seeing a whole new world outside."

The region is made up of the City of Peterborough and the County of Peterborough (comprised of eight townships and two First Nations communities). This requires a bit of balancing on the part of leaders at the municipal level – a challenge that City of Peterborough Mayor, Daryl Bennett and County of Peterborough Warden, J. Murray Jones rise to as they work collaboratively to provide locals and visitors with a region that is a desirable place to live, work and play.

Peterborough & the Kawarthas has long been a celebrated cottage country destination with vast and varied experiences. It also features well-known attractions such as: the Peterborough Lift Lock, the world’s highest hydraulic lift lock, which was built in 1904 and is located on the Trent-Severn Waterway – a favourite amongst North American boaters; Lang Pioneer Village, an outdoor living history museum located on the shores of the Indian River; and the Canadian Canoe Museum, "an engaging, family- friendly place that offers a fascinating look at Canadian history as seen from a canoe."

Peterborough & the Kawarthas is also becoming a noteworthy destination for Canadian and international visitors and media alike. In 2014, the Travel Media Association of Canada held its annual conference in Peterborough, which proved to be "hugely beneficial" from a tourism perspective.

"We had all kinds of people here discovering our area for the very first time, and it just blew everyone away," Jones says. "And the results of that are still trickling in.

Even more, the region offers an array of festivals and events that are "second-to-none" in the province, says Mayor Daryl Bennett. For example, there's the annual Peterborough Musicfest, which celebrated its 30th anniversary just this year. The free-to-attend event showcases a variety of nationally and regionally-renowned talent with past acts including Carly Rae Jepsen, Randy Bachman, Walk off the Earth and the region's own Serena Ryder.

The region is a top culinary destination in Ontario with more than 350 diverse dining establishments and a vibrant local food scene. Chefs in Peterborough & the Kawarthas have chosen the region over other cosmopolitan cities and world-renowned resorts because of the amazing access to passionate producers and farm-fresh local products. "If you're a tourist, Peterborough really has a unique offering," says Mayor Bennett.

Work, Play and Live

Peterborough & the Kawarthas has a long history of economic diversity and is known as a place where industrial, agricultural and cultural businesses cooperate, collaborate and flourish. Employers span a variety of sectors and range from entrepreneur-owned microbusinesses to educational and governmental headquarters to multinational corporations including Siemens, Rolls-Royce, General Electric and PepsiCo/Quaker.

The City of Peterborough is home to the state-of-the-art Peterborough Regional Health Centre, the county's largest employer at approximately 2,000 staff. It's also the home of three well-known post- secondary institutions – Trent University, Fleming College's Sutherland Campus and Seneca College's School of Aviation – which collectively employ more than 2,400 people and educate a steady supply of skilled, ready-to-work graduates eager to meet the growing demand for labour in the region.

"Every community in Southern Ontario is going to be dealing with a labour shortage in the next decade, and our institutions give us a major leg up here," says Mayor Bennett.

"In particular, Fleming College's Kawartha Trades and Technology Centre is turning out the tradespeople we need to keep some of these jobs here," Jones adds. "This keeps manufacturing companies interested in us because the people that they need are here, armed with the skills necessary to be successful in today's environment."

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, Peterborough Victoria Northumberland & Clarington Catholic District School board, and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry are also headquartered in the city, employing more than 2,000, 2,100 and 895 people respectively.

"We punch well above our weight in this region," says Mayor Bennett.

The City and the County of Peterborough work in unison to proactively create more local jobs. Collaboratively they fund Peterborough Economic Development (PED) – the lead regional economic development agency for Peterborough & the Kawarthas. Under the leadership of President & CEO, Rhonda Keenan, PED works collaboratively with local stakeholders to attract, retain and support businesses, investors, entrepreneurs and visitors to nurture growth opportunities and foster the continued development in the region.

Another partnership opportunity bringing growth to the region is the collaboration between the City of Peterborough, Trent University and PED, to establish the Trent Research and Innovation Park, which will act as a catalyst to attract "a new wave of business" to the region. In 2017, the business park is set to become market ready.

"The goal is to attract businesses that align with Trent University's clean technologies and environmental technologies," says Keenan. "It's really setting up the community well to play to its assets with our skilled labour force and urban-rural environment." "It'll put us on the map," Jones declares.

There is also an emphasis on building a supportive environment in the region for entrepreneurs, as 50 per cent of the region's businesses are owner-operated. Mayor Bennett points out that a local group is taking initiative on a new venture to establish a business incubator in the city's downtown. The organization is partnering with a number of community agencies to be the "one-stop shop" for new businesses coming to the area.

New and expanding businesses receive vital assistance through PED. According to Jones, PED has the answer to practically any development-related question a private investor would have in relation to getting started in Peterborough & the Kawarthas.

"We're very lucky to have PED," he says. "Both the city and the county have invested in it, and we certainly look to them to direct our private investment. They do a great job."

Peterborough has also created jobs by taking the initiative to prepare land for industrial purposes before selling to suitable developers. Mayor Bennett says Peterborough has land opportunities for business- related activity for as low as $40,000 per acre, and that developers who have delivered major works throughout Ontario have "almost in unison sung the song that Peterborough is very open-armed in being able to provide for their needs."

To make the process even more appealing to investors, Peterborough has mapped out its central area to streamline the development process and costs. Mayor Bennett also notes that the region’s tax base is stable enough to support its businesses, regardless of the economic climate.

"It's not as onerous to start a business in Peterborough as it can be in other communities," he says. "Back in 2012, for example, we had a company move here from Toronto. They had three outlets there and decided to consolidate them all into one building here. Their only regret was that they didn't do it 20 years earlier because Peterborough is a much easier city to do business in."

While the majority of employment opportunities are centered in the City of Peterborough, townships throughout the region are similarly stepping up their efforts to create new jobs. Although it may be on a slightly smaller scale, those communities are in the process of establishing their own business parks to provide manufacturing companies with the ideal grounds for expansion or relocation.

"What do we have here? We have an environment where people want to work, play and live," Mayor Bennett says. "It's great for families with a university, college and hospital all on your doorstep and plenty of employment opportunities to go around.”

Well-Poised for Growth

In addition to the Trent Research and Innovation Park, the City and the County are collaborating on a wide range of projects and initiatives to future-proof Peterborough for the next several decades and beyond. One such project is the $4.1 million Peterborough Airport expansion, which includes a variety of upgrade works including expanding the existing industrial park at the Peterborough Airport to accommodate more tenants and provide them with greater business opportunities.

"That is certainly a strategic investment," says Keenan. "The city did spend significant dollars, but that allowed the businesses there to grow and expand. In fact, there was a recent announcement that a business that was operating at the airport was able to grow and expand and create new jobs as a result of that investment."

In recent years, Peterborough has also invested significantly in its utilities, services and infrastructure, such as upgrading the efficiency of its water utilities. As a result, the City of Peterborough is now only using 42 per cent of its water manufacturing capacity, which leaves the rest for future developments.

"We're well-poised for growth heading into the future without putting restrictions on our taxpayers," says Mayor Bennett.

The City and County of Peterborough also worked closely together to take a leadership role in the establishment of the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN). EORN provides communities throughout Eastern and Southern Ontario with high-speed internet access via its 5,500-kilometre network of fibre optic cabling, producing 160 new access points for internet service providers in the process. The County of Peterborough made substantial contributions to the project in both finances and manpower, seeing it as "crucial for business in the region."

The City of Peterborough is now planning to vastly improve its hydroelectric power generation capacity along the Otonabee River within the next 20 years.

"It's a long-term project, but we're going to be quite satisfied with the level of earnings that will give us over the next 100 years," Mayor Bennett explains.

Peterborough is also taking a long-term approach in the development of active transportation. Recent efforts have not only increased the viability of cycling as a mode of transportation and tourism throughout the City and County, but has additionally increased the region's profile on a provincial scale, with the community being recently designated as a Silver WALK Friendly Community by WALK Friendly Ontario.

Likewise, Peterborough aims to upgrade its transportation infrastructure to increase mobility throughout the county. To that end, a parkway was recently approved to connect the southwest corner of the city to the northeast corner, which complements the county's transportation plans.

Mayor Bennett is quick to credit both the provincial and federal governments for their support in delivering major projects like the ones listed above over the years.

"They have been very generous," he says. "We've had great representation for a number of years here, and the federal and provincial government on several occasions have been right there to assist us with our big projects." Moving forward, Peterborough will continue to work closely with its partners to improve the quality of life across the region. Mayor Bennett says the primary focus at the moment is creating more opportunities for businesses to flourish in Peterborough, and that both the county and the city have a "very good handle" on what it takes to attract the right businesses to make that happen.

"There are a lot of things going on in the city by way of business-related activities," he says. "We are always actively engaged with people who show interest in the region and are certainly listening to what they are looking for, so it's a live-and-learn experience from an operational standpoint and it has been a pretty good strategy for us in the last few years."

"The backbone of that philosophy is working together, because we're all very lucky to be living in this wonderful community," Jones concludes.