Perth County economic development, tourism team caps busy summer with provincial agriculture forum

By: Galen Simmons

From promoting local tourism and supporting business expansions to hosting government officials and bringing economic-development professionals from across Ontario to Perth County, the county’s economic development and tourism division had a busy summer.

Economic development officer Justin Dias provided county council with a recap of the department’s work from June through September at council’s Oct. 1 meeting, highlighting business retention and expansion efforts, tourism marketing, the development of new visitor experiences and the county’s ongoing tourism wayfinding project.

Among the summer’s economic-development activities were visits to local manufacturers interested in provincial expansion funding, support for Listowel Technology Inc.’s $13.2-million expansion – backed by $1.5 million through the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund – and continued discussions with provincial and federal officials surrounding a potential new manufacturing facility in Perth County.

The county also supported a business tour and roundtable in August with then-Agriculture Minister Trevor Jones and Rural Affairs Minister Lisa Thompson involving 15 local business representatives. Five Perth County businesses were also nominated for Ontario Excellence in Agriculture Awards.

On the tourism side, the county supported the launch of Farmhouse Fires at the Perth Farmhouse as a new signature experience in June, while its summer marketing campaign included print, digital and social-media promotion.

More than 76,000 tourism brochures were distributed through Canada Post and tourism destinations, while county tourism social-media channels gained more than 1,700 followers since May and generated more than 18,000 interactions. Three summer students featured more than 85 Perth County businesses through reels, stories and other content.

Work also continued on the FRAME + Find Tourism Wayfinding Signage Strategy. Two stakeholder workshops and a county road tour were held in July to identify signage gaps, preferred aesthetics and priority locations, with the project now moving from its discovery phase into strategy development and design.

The summer culminated with Perth County and investStratford hosting the Municipal Agriculture Economic Development and Planning Forum Sept. 28-29.

The first day included an agricultural and business discovery bus tour across Perth County, with stops including Gray Ridge Egg Farms, Anna Mae’s Restaurant and Bakery, Lynn River Farm and the Stratford Perth Centre for Business. The county’s report says the tour showcased nine Perth County businesses to 56 participants.

The second day brought 122 participants to the Tom Patterson Theatre in Stratford for sessions focused on rural economic development, on-farm diversification, development-ready communities and agricultural bylaws.

Coun. Rhonda Ehgoetz praised staff for the event and said she was struck by how far some participants had travelled.

“It was really impressive to see that they came from everywhere,” Ehgoetz said. “It was a bang-up job. You did an awesome job and it was great to see the businesses again.”

Warden Dean Trentowsky echoed those comments, saying participants were impressed by the work that went into the two-day format.

“People were impressed with the effort that was made to put together the two-day format,” Trentowsky said, also recognizing investStratford and its staff for co-hosting the forum. “It shows teamwork and partnership – the great results that can happen there.”

A full report on the Municipal Agriculture Economic Development and Planning Forum will be presented to council at a future meeting.