The trajectory of Sudbury's economic growth is spearheaded by landmark achievements in education, mining and health care. The region's success rests partly due to record high prices paid for platinum group metals, Sudbury's traditional economic mainstay. But much is attributed to innovation, research and the ability to seek out new opportunities.

Greater Sudbury's Regional Business Centre, in co-operation with the Sudbury Area Mining Supplies and Services Association (SAMSSA), and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), recently completed a strategic program that will educate and train mining decision makers to sell globally.

A companion Business and Retention Expansion Program will address issues of employee retention in both the mining sector and other industries. A bird's eye view of Greater Sudbury's economic environment shows similar pockets of robust activity. The education sector is heating up, demonstrated, for example, by additional doctoral programs at Laurentian University and evolving relationships between community colleges and private enterprise.

Despite delays in the expansion of Laurentian Hospital, construction is scheduled to resume shortly, foreshadowing future growth prospects in health care. The physician recruitment campaign to attract doctors into a chronically under-serviced region continues. Most significant among recent developments is the Young Professionals Association, the first organization of its kind to promote career and entrepreneurial success among 21- to 35-year-olds. The City of Greater Sudbury will continue to provide a favourable business climate, a chief mechanism for economic development.