Focus on Brant: “A big city with a small town feel” | Daily News Byte

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The benefits of doing business in Brantford are proving magnetic, say those working to attract investment.

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And those advantages attract polar opposites, from multinational corporations to small businesses, and legacy companies to startups.

“Brantford continues to be extremely competitive and we have a lot of eyes on us right now,” says Sara Munro, director of economic development. “We continue to grow at a rapid pace and are known as a community with really great potential.”

Benefits include easy access to markets across North America, competitive real estate costs, a diverse workforce with many training opportunities, and a one-tier government that streamlines and streamlines development in a collaborative manner.

“We’re a big city with a small-town feel, and that’s really reflected in the way we operate,” says Munro. She also points out that success breeds success.

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“Many of our companies are our biggest advocates.” They’re already sold on Brantford and they’re bringing their friends, which is great. It shows us that we, as a community, are doing a really good job of providing services for them to get everything they need to thrive.”

The city says it’s important to attract new businesses, but it’s also working to retain existing companies so they can grow their businesses here. So next year, they will undertake a new economic development strategy, which will include more focus on the Farmer’s Market and the Brantford Municipal Airport.

“We see the potential for growth there and know that we have to focus on retaining and expanding the business.” We recognize the value of small businesses and the people behind them and will never lose focus on them because they make Brantford unique,” ​​says Munro.

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Overall, Brantford has four main economic sectors: food and beverage (2,300 workers); advanced manufacturing, (2,100); rubber and plastic (1,100); and logistics and storage 1,500). Each of them works well.

“We’re seeing a lot of growth in chocolate and confectionery, which includes Hersheys and Barry Callebaut,” says Munroe. “And it builds on the successes of Ferrara.” So we become kind of a sweet spot, and that attracts complementary services that work with them.”

Munroe adds that the city’s economic base is so diverse that no one should worry about over-reliance on that sector. “That kind of concentration isn’t going to skew things in one direction over the other, and workers across our economic base are fairly evenly distributed.”

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“What we’re really seeing in the warehousing and logistics scene is that businesses are really working with other sectors in our community to share resources and services.” They keep those things as close to home as possible.”

Five new companies have opened in Brantford so far this year: Nuts to You, Canada Pools, Provantage Automation, 900 Distribution and York Hospitality and Supply. To ensure continued growth, the city is working to address workforce needs and infrastructure requirements.

“With Boomers retiring at a faster rate than new workforce entrants, we really need to step up and attract that talent, and also better respond to increased talent mobility,” Munroe says.

“It’s an employee market, and they’re looking for better pay, better benefits, shorter commutes and better work-life balance.” Our job is to address those challenges so that we don’t struggle more than other jurisdictions.”

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Munroe explains that a big part of the city’s job is to make sure Brantford is a great place to live, to attract and retain workers and their families. So her department is working with several partners to find creative solutions to the worker shortage.

The Department of Economic Development is also putting new emphasis on culture and the creative industries, which it sees as a largely untapped resource. The new cultural center on the former Eaton Market Square is an example.

“We worked with Laurier Brantford to make it happen,” Munroe says. “It will bring a lot of complementary services to the core that are beyond simple performing arts, things like art-house cinema, visual arts and really unique culinary and shopping experiences.”

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Munro compares the new initiative to what happened in Port Dover where the opening of the Lighthouse Theater sparked an influx of interesting restaurants and boutiques.

She says, “I think you’re going to see thousands of new housing units coming up downtown, and with that comes new needs and a stronger case for investing in the core, because you have that foot traffic and a new market that’s looking for services they’re used to seeing in larger cities.

“It’s something that’s growing in Brantford.”

To keep pace with growth in the outlying areas, including the newly annexed lands, planning for infrastructure upgrades is well underway. The municipality has a draft report outlining the incremental requirements for water, wastewater, stormwater, transportation infrastructure and community facilities needed to support the expansion.

Working through the Public Works Commission, the city is developing construction manuals and working on several environmental assessment projects.

“In Brantford, we’re known for working before the game,” says Munro, “so we try to get that ground ready as soon as possible.”

This article was recently published as part of a special Focus on Brant section of the Brantford Expositor magazine.