City has a lot to offer to Noront workers – by Robert Kirwan (Sudbury Star – February 26, 2018)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Robert Kirwan is the city councillor for Ward 5.

The City of Greater Sudbury has submitted a compelling bid to host the proposed Noront Resources ferrochrome production facility. Noront will consider other proposals from Timmins, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie in addition to the Sudbury bid.

Since Greater Sudbury is recognized as one of the global leaders in the mining and mining supply and services industry, we should be considered as a frontrunner in this competition for the billion-dollar plant that comes with about 350 permanent jobs and about 150 indirect jobs within the community. The city is proposing that the optimal location for the plant is the former Inco’s Coniston smelter site, which is already zoned and suitable for the facility.

Noront has indicated that it will only select a city where it knows it is welcome. A survey conducted recently showed that 77 per cent of the people polled support the construction of the facility.

But despite the strong support shown for the facility through the survey and from what is written in the proposal, Noront Resources Inc. officials will also be looking for clear and convincing evidence that the city is growth-oriented, friendly to business, and able to offer a quality of life for its employees that will make people want to live and work in this area.

At this moment, the selection committee for Noront sees a city that has decided to launch a major destination centre on the Kingsway, just kilometres away from Coniston, the optimal location outlined in our proposal. They see a city that is investing in our future with a facility valued at more than $220 million that will include a full casino, the largest hotel in the city, and a state-of-the-art arena and event centre on a property that has an additional 120 acres available for future commercial development.

The confidence we are showing through this investment will convince Noront that Sudbury is indeed a city with a future. They will see that their own investment will be making a significant contribution to the potential of Greater Sudbury, but that they won’t be carrying this growth on their own backs.

For the rest of this article: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2018/02/25/city-has-a-lot-to-offer-to-noront-workers