Created in 2004 with the amalgamation of Haileybury, New Liskeard and Dymond Township, Temiskaming Shores' strength is its position as a regional hub.
It services several smaller communities in the area, including some in Quebec, all within a 45-minute drive to the city.
“Our service industry is still strong and we are seeing more interest from the retail and service sector,” said James Franks, economic development and funding coordinator for Temiskaming Shores.
The city can also expect to generate more interest in its industrial park once planned improvements and an expansion are completed.
Since amalgamation, the city has been working to add water and sewer lines to the 70-acre industrial park located in the former Dymond Township.
Funding of $1 million was received from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) to put in water, but there weren't enough funds to add the sewer lines.
While the funding was set aside, this year an additional $1 million was received and FedNor funding of about $2 million was also received.
It is expected the project will cost a total of $8.5 million and it will include an expansion of an additional 85 acres which will also be serviced.
It also means the current 17 businesses will also have their lots serviced.
“When the park was built in the early '90s, the township drilled a couple of small wells on the site and small water lines gave them non-potable water,” Franks said. “But those who wanted to expand couldn't because of insufficient fire protection and they have all been paying significant insurance due to the lack of water.
Now we can fix this problem for the existing tenants.”
With the improvements, requests for serviced industrial land will no longer have to be turned down.
“We are confident we will find folks in the region for the park and certainly with the mining boom in the past few years, we are close enough to the mining communities to support them,” he said.
Temiskaming Shores, located 150 kilometres north of North Bay, is located at the picturesque head of the Ottawa River waterway.
