The Mattawa-Bonfield Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has a new site selection tool to attract investment to this corner of northeastern Ontario.
The corporation has put a database online to showcase the best publicly and privately owned properties that are available and ripe for development.
“It's another tool promoting that we're open for business and moving forward,” said Jason McMartin, Mattawa-Bonfield's economic development director.
The EDC represents five municipalities on the Quebec border, namely the town of Mattawa and the nearby townships of Bonfield, Calvin, Mattawan and Papineau-Cameron, with a collective population base of 6,000.
The property site selection tool was put together by CGIS Spatial Solutions of Perth.
Known as the Investment Readiness Site Selector, McMartin said he always wanted to map all the available commercial and industrial properties – which range from an old schoolhouse to a forestry mill – since he took the job in early 2010.
The EDC has been using the system for internal office use for more than a year.
By posting the information online for all to see, McMartin said now he can easily and more efficiently handle over-thephone inquiries since both parties can simultaneously scroll through various properties and later make arrangements a site visit.
“It's made the interaction in getting information to the end-user a lot quicker.”
McMartin said the beauty of GIS mapping technology is that you can keep adding layers of data, beyond just identifying roads, rail and rivers.
The properties are identified with stars that, when clicked on, provide details on acreage, zoning, realtor information, property tax rates, soil conditions, road access, infrastructure servicing, plans and permit information, any legal and survey issues, and sometimes site photography.
The properties are posted online free of charge.
One of the prime properties is a former Tembec mill with 138 acres of yard space and plant buildings, including a maintenance garage, a fully equipped sawmill, kilns and boiler system. But hurdles do exist since the province stripped the mill of its Crown wood supply after it ceased operation in 2008.
McMartin said filling up that database with more properties will be an ongoing job.
“As we move forward we'll be populating (the database) more and more as we go, and we do have plans for other types of layers to utilize for economic development.”
Later on, the EDC intends to include waterfront opportunities and vacant farmland.
McMartin, a Mattawa native, wants to open a dialogue with private landowners to gauge if they're interested in severing part of their properties for development opportunities. Those with frontage on the Trans-Canada Highway are especially prized.
Though the area's historical industry roots is in forestry, McMartin said this is a great economic diversification tool.
“This opens up the doors to anything,” said McMartin. “We have natural assets in the area and tourism's pretty strong throughout the region, and you don't know who you get coming through as a tourist. They think, what a unique area, and maybe they want to relocate, do a satellite branch, you never know. At least these tools are here when they do ask the questions.”
