Barrie mayor calls on businesses for help

By Laurie Watt Barrie Advance Sep 28, 2012 

BARRIE – Barrie still needs the help of business to help the city grow, Mayor Jeff Lehman told the Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce.

At the annual Mayor’s Luncheon Monday, Lehman reminded business leaders of the role they play in helping the city attract investment as well as the role they could play in helping the city obtain a university.

He highlighted the opening of the IBM Canada Leadership Centre – a high-level data centre – and MacLean Engineering, a mining engineering company with customers around the world.

“We will never recover all the jobs in Ontario that have moved with free trade. But there are wins to be had,” he said, citing the two investments made this year.

Barrie’s investment in upgrading its power and water supplies were elements in several companies’ moves to town, he said. The IBM project prompted Bell and Rogers to expand their connections to the city and laid the groundwork for the growing data cluster that also includes TD Canada Trust.

“We have a new strategic advantage. The first time (cable) expansion occurred was with BMO,” he recalled, noting the city scored the bank with the help of its business ambassadors. A company gave the city the BMO lead – and the city worked to bring the company, although it meant hydro upgrades in the south end.

Lehman added the city is working to make a compelling case for one of Ontario’s three promised undergraduate satellite campuses. Programs, he noted, could respond to local industry needs for employee training.

“If a satellite university campus is important to you and your business, we need to hear from you,” he said. “Tell us how your business will benefit, if you hire university graduates, if you require specific skill sets.”