The President of the Southwest Economic Alliance (SWEA) sees a fruitful marriage in the future between urban and rural communities.
Serge Lavoie was speaking to the Bruce County Agriculture, Tourism and Planning Land Division committee on Thursday.
Lavoie says SWEA is a six year old organization that is bringing together 15 counties that make up Southwestern Ontario, from Bruce and Grey in the north to Essex in the south and as far east as Haldimand.
Bruce County is already a member of the group.
Lavoie says his message to county councillors was that they must be ready for the future of agriculture and how it relates to the urban area.
He says one of the group’s main goals is developing those economic strengths between the urban and rural areas of the region.
Lavoie says too many people think there’s an urban/rural divide but SWEA sees a synergy.
He says their research across the region shows all the major cities believe that agriculture will be the major growth sector for many years to come in Southwestern Ontario.
He says the urban area is relying on agriculture for their future.
On the other hand when they surveyed people in the rural area, they said they don’t believe they have enough in common with the urban area.
He says this is the marriage they’re working on and when successful they can move forward as a group to sell Southwestern Ontario beyond its borders and beyond North America.
Lavoie says SWEA is heading a trade mission to Holland in May in the hopes that Southwestern Ontario can be branded a region in which to do business.
He says Southwestern Ontario is not what it was 50-years when its primary focus was on manufacturing.
Bruce County Warden and Saugeen Shores Mayor Mike Smith says the group can also be used to help lobby senior levels of government to assist economic development in the region.
Smith says economic development was one of the big issues in last fall’s election campaign and continues to be front and centre today.
