By KELLY LOUSEIZE
Knowledge-based sectors, high-end manufacturing and business-to-consumer companies are key to expanding economic development in Thunder Bay.
Recognizing the importance of capitalizing on its strengths, one of the city’s focal points is to target companies within the knowledge-based sector, with few transportation needs.
“The cost of transporting research and development is at the click of a button, so we are targeting the knowledge economy more than we ever have
because transportation costs within that area are absolutely zero,” says Derik Brandt, manager of Thunder Bay tourism and economic development.
Companies like Bombardier provide an excellent example of high-end manufacturers, which do not have high transportation needs, he says.
Contracts to build commuter cars can amount to multimillion-dollar projects; therefore, transportation needs become less significant, he adds.
Lastly, a 24-hour business-to-consumer company would not be affected by transportation prices, either. The cost to ship from Thunder Bay to
Chicago versus Vancouver to St. John’s, Nfld. is the same, Brandt points out.
Recognizing the potential of attracting a U.S.-based business to Thunder Bay, Brandt maintains contact with an American firm considering relocating to Thunder Bay.
Business owners (59 per cent) cite transportation costs as a disadvantage to doing business in Thunder Bay. As a result, Brandt is considering a transportation study that will examine what products are being imported that can be made locally. If a handful of companies are buying equipment from one local business, it may sprout new opportunity within the cluster.
“If we can encourage the development of those networks, we will see a stronger cluster,” Brandt says.
The Thunder Bay transportation sector employs approximately 2,770 workers, more jobs than the pulp and paper mills, according to the city’s economic report. The high Canadian dollar, increasing electricity costs, and softwood duties forced the closure of some mills in the vicinity, but there are some signs of recovery, Brandt says. An end is in sight for softwood lumber duties, and more emphasis is being placed on research and development. Scientists are finding new medicines from plants found in the boreal forest and technical experts are working on equipment to either further reduce industry pollutants or bring more efficient practices to the fold. Either way, jobs paying $30 to $35 per hour are becoming obsolete, he says.
“We are not going to see those (high-paying jobs) anymore,” Brandt says, even if value-added forestry-related jobs are created.
However, the city’s knowledge and education sector is attracting those high-paying jobs. With public institutions like the university, hospital and clinics working collaboratively with private company owners, the city is gaining a reputation as one of the North’s biotechnology hubs.
Recently, Brandt learned of a significant biotechnology investor who has expressed a willingness to invest in Thunder Bay’s biotechnology infrastructure.
Attracting a major biotechnology investor to Thunder Bay would provide an impetus for further biotechnology initiatives to develop.
The city is also fishing for a biotechnology anchor company. While the new medical school that is scheduled to open in September 2005 could be considered an public-sector anchor, “we do need that private sector anchor firm,” Brandt says.
Siemens Medical Solutions, an American company that manufactures cancer care equipment, recently chose Chicago instead of Thunder Bay as an operation base.
Developing the transportation, forestry, tourism and education and knowledge sectors are priorities.
To work alongside businesses, the city’s economic development department set up a business retention and expansion project aimed at identifying
barriers to growth. Over 100 companies participated in a survey to provide feedback on business issues to the city’s economic department. As a result, a number of business leaders have joined a task force to create an action plan to deal with some of the problematic barriers.
