Invest in Grey Bruce

An Investment Strategy Built on Success

Grey and Bruce Counties are focused and proactive about promoting our business growth. To ensure long term employment for our residents, we’re building on a foundation of 5 key sectors:

Value-Added Agriculture
Including food processing, organic farming and market gardens
Advanced Manufacturing
Including value added and bulk products that can be shipped by road or the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway
Tourism, Arts and Culture
Including unique year-round activities and events, and investments in accommodation
Energy and Environment
Including alternative fuels, wind and solar power development
Retail Development
Including investment and services in our historic downtowns and villages

The Grey Bruce Business Advantage

Our unique value proposition makes Grey and Bruce Counties a smart choice for your business. We combine all the amenities that a business needs to prosper, together with an unbeatable quality of life. Consider these 9 key reasons to choose Grey Bruce:

1. Transportation Connections – Ease of access to Southern Ontario, Canadian and North American markets via Highways 6, 10 and the 400 series, the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway, and Lester B. Pearson International Airport
2. Cost Advantage – Competitive wage costs, low employee turnover and a municipal tax structure that compares well to larger centres.
3. A Ready Supply of Land and Buildings - Available Industrial and Commercial building and land
4. Location – Located in rural Southern Ontario with the “big city” amenities of Toronto and London nearby
5. Growing Population – sustained population growth is projected to 2031.
6. Talented Labour Force – A labour force with higher than average technical trades skills
7. A Culture of Entrepreneurism – Strong rate of growth among small and medium businesses
8. Superior Quality of Life – A rural, active community with no shortage of arts, culture and recreation options
9. Sound Municipal Financial Management Practices – Municipalities that have demonstrated sound financial management of taxpayers’ dollars.

Key Investment Opportunities in Grey Bruce

Our economic development and tourism professionals in Grey Bruce are targeting business and investment opportunities that:

1. Strengthen and diversify our region’s advanced manufacturing base
2. Contribute to the growing success of our small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs
3. Strengthen the region’s offering of arts, cultural and recreational experiences for residents and visitors
4. Preserve and enhance the architectural attractiveness of our heritage buildings and contribute to a vibrant and pedestrian-friendly environment for residents and visitors
5. Facilitate higher-density residential development in and around our downtowns
6. Contribute to the growing cluster of health care professionals and organizations
7. Capitalize on the presence of our post-secondary education and training institutions
8. Capitalize on entrepreneurs looking for a better quality of life and opportunities to start a second career.

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Agriculture

Use Our Agri Strategy to Your Advantage

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Grey Bruce regional economic development stakeholders are interested in further developing the value-added agricultural sector. The top opportunities adapted from the Agri Value Added Strategy for Grey Bruce include:

Bio-products: Using newly developing technologies to leverage the abundance of raw materials to produce a renewable energy resource.
Agri-tourism: Using a coordinated approach with the existing tourism businesses to attract more tourists to the region.
Farm gate value-added products: Selling traditional furniture and a variety of food products.
Provincial meat and poultry processing: Permitting the value-added processing to be kept locally.
Value-added services to farms: Providing opportunities to service local producers. Services include trades, mechanical repairs, small-scale processing and packaging of farm products.
Commercial Aquaculture: Developing fish farm operations instead of open-sea fishing.
Grains and Derivatives: Developing value-added processing for the gluten-free food market by establishing an oil producing crushing plant.

>> View Agriculture Profiles

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Manufacturing

Prime Location, Lower Costs

Over 13% of Grey and Bruce Counties’ labour force is employed in manufacturing that includes food manufacturing, furniture and wood product manufacturing, transportation equipment and machinery manufacturing and printing operations. The proximity to the Greater Toronto Area and Northern United States combined with access to international border crossings at Fort Erie and Windsor means local manufacturers are within a day’s drive of one of North America’s largest consumer markets.

Why Choose Grey and Bruce Counties for Manufacturing?

Competitive land costs – substantially lower on a per acre cost than the GTA.
Available land throughout the Counties. Ask about our inventory of service-ready land.
A community of manufacturing companies.
A skilled and productive labour force.
Transportation connections:

- Access to 400 series highways via Highways 6 & 10
- Access to Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway at Owen Sound
- Lester B. Pearson and CN Intermodal Facility within a three hour drive
- US border crossings are located at Fort Erie/Niagara Falls and Windsor/Detroit

Food, furniture and wood product manufacturing have the largest number of firms and are the leading industries provided employment opportunities for residents in the Grey Bruce counties region.

>> View Manufacturing Profiles

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Tourism

A Roadmap for Success

The Grey County Tourism (GCT) Destination Development Action Plan 2010 includes recommendations for four areas of responsibility: leadership, market research, marketing and demand generators. This Action Plan lays out 16 recommendations to further develop Grey County as a recognized tourism destination. Some of the more prominent tourism opportunities that the County is interested in pursuing include:

Developing Grey Experiences for Blue Mountain visitors.
Making Grey County a fall colours and harvest destination in Ontario.
Supporting key festivals and events that have the ability to become demand generators.
Supporting the development of Ride Grey Bruce and becoming a motorsports destination.
Supporting and developing initiatives that recognize the importance of the Escarpment, Georgian Bay and the natural environment to Grey County visitors.
Source: Grey County Tourism Destination Development Action Plan 2010, p.8.

>> View Tourism Profiles

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Energy & Environment

Energy to Power the Future

Grey Bruce currently has significant energy assets which it continues to build on. With a base of nuclear power, Grey Bruce is also leading the way in Canada’s green energy sector. There are many opportunities to participate in this vital industry.

Nearly 5,400 residents (6.0% of the labour force) are employed in Grey and Bruce Counties Energy Sector. The sector’s main employer is the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant in Tiverton, Ontario. Another major energy sector employer is Westario Power in Walkerton, Ontario.

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Grey Bruce Regional Economic Development Partnership

Now online and in video profiles, the Partnership takes on the web.

Click here to visit the greybrucepartnership Channel on YouTube

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