The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.
Mayor Laughren hopes to see city’s economy diversify in 2012
There will be much emphasis on mining’s glorious past, and the legendary prospectors who helped found this city, as Timmins celebrates its centennial anniversary over the next year.
High gold prices, the startup of several mines in the area and potential spinoffs from development within the Ring of Fire has spurred a sense of confidence that these glorious days are still with us.
However, the proverbial elephant in the room will always be the fact minerals are a finite resource and some of the mines currently employing people throughout the region are not expected to still be in operation 15 to 20 years from now.
To address this, Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren said one of the key challenges in 2012 will be laying down a foundation to attract alternative industries.
Typically, when Northern leaders talk about diversifying their local economy, the focus is on developing tourism.
Laughren said while tourism may be a component, it is not the economic solution for Timmins.
“To me, it’s maybe manufacturing opportunities,” he said. “We have to get our head around the fact it’s a global economy. So there’s no reason, why a place like Timmins could not compete globally doing something through IT (information technology), or on the education side or medical side because we are definitely a regional centre.”
Considering the existing industries in place in Timmins, Laughren said it may make sense for the city to enhance its manufacturing capabilities to serve the mining industry.
“It could be related to mining, but taking it beyond just Timmins, or Ontario – taking it globally.”
With the mindset of tapping into a worldwide market, “You might see chambers of commerce or economic development groups doing a lot of missions or visits to Asia or other countries trying to make business deals.”
Before Timmins and other communities in the region can even try to attract industries, Laughren said Northern Ontario has to be seen as an economically viable location to set up.
“There’s got to be some government incentives and we believe there’s got to be some things done with energy rates, at least from an industrial perspective.”
The city is also in need of addressing a shortage of affordable homes and apartments.
“We have a number of businesses, companies looking to hire people and bring people to Timmins, and they’re struggling,” said Laughren. “One of the big reasons they’re struggling with that is because of the lack of affordable housing. That’s another challenge that I think some of us are starting to work on. It was well identified in the strategic plan but a community like Timmins can’t do it all on its own. It needs help and support and that’s where we look to other levels of government for that.”
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