THUNDER BAY – The Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge and the City of Thunder Bay will share a total of $511,000 in FedNor funding for two initiatives. The first initiative will benefit from an investment of $360,000 to enable the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge to expand the Rubin Business Park and help meet increased demand for industrial and commercial land.
Greg Rickford, Parliamentary Secretary for FedNor and Member of Parliament for Kenora announced a Government of Canada investment to help support community economic development and small business growth in the Thunder Bay region. “Today’s announcement will help facilitate business development and growth, attract entrepreneurial investment and global talent, and support the exploration of new business opportunities,” Rickford.
“By working hand-in-hand with communities in Northern Ontario and across the country, our government is helping strengthen and diversify the regional economy,” added Minister Clement.
“We are proud to support projects that will improve community competitiveness and set the stage for growth.”
Specifically, the funding will cover engineering and servicing costs, as well as road construction to access and create 10 new commercial lots in the business park. The project will also include the development of a marketing strategy to help attract tenants.
The second initiative, led by the City of Thunder Bay, will benefit from an investment of $151,000 to implement a marketing strategy designed to drive international web-based traffic to the Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal. This is a regional project, which showcases all 32 Northwestern Ontario communities, and was launched in 2010 to attract global talent and entrepreneurial investment to the region. The goal of the marketing strategy is to develop the region as an international immigration destination of choice.
“FedNor support will enable us to derive greater economic benefit from the business park through the sale of lands and increased commercial tax revenues,” said Lucy Kloosterhuis, Mayor of Oliver Paipoonge. “The initiatives announced today will help attract investment and entrepreneurs to the area and lead to new job opportunities.”