Sault Ste. Marie is putting together a business case to attract an airplane-painting company and defence contracts to its airport.
With $70,000 in funding from the federal government’s Invest Canada-Community Initiatives program, the city’s Economic Development Corporation is compiling a list of benefits a potential airplane-painting business would reap from setting up in the Sault.
“When working to attract companies and investment, you need a solid business case to make a solid argument to the prospective firm,” said Tom Dodds, the EDC’s CEO, in a release.
“We’re now looking to engage with a professional service provider to undertake a business case related to the aviation sector. Once complete, we’ll use the findings to pursue companies, with the objective of attracting business and foreign direct investment to Sault Ste. Marie.”
In a separate initiative, the EDC will help the airport secure its “controlled goods” status, which is required to sell to major defence contractors.
Airport board chair John Febbraro said the efforts will help the Sault to diversify its economy.
“The successful attraction of other investments to the community will minimize the risk of local companies being fully dependent on one or two large organizations,” he said in a release.
“In addition, these business cases will identify markets to be targeted for attracting investment and form the basis for activities to further attract new investments.”
These projects fall under the SSMEDC’s Invest Sault Ste. Marie initiative, a three-year program created to enhance the community's economic development capacity and performance in key sectors.
