South Central Ontario Region - SCOR : News - South Central Ontario Region

SCOR News / Media Releases

News Release Date	Headline

August 18, 2010	SCOR Accomplishments
August 13, 2010	SCOR implementing 15 priorities
April 1, 2010	SCOR partnership incorporates
November 4, 2009	SCOR Partners Adopt Strategic Management Plan
November 4, 2009	Sand Plains Community Development Fund
April 29, 2009	SCOR partners considering priorities for action
January 19, 2009	SCOR partners pursuing economic vision
August 6, 2008	SCOR partnership welcomes Community Futures support
June 17, 2008	SCOR partnership selects officers, approves path forward

April 1, 2010: SCOR partnership incorporates

The South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) is pleased to formally announce that it has received approval for incorporation as a “not-for-profit” economic development corporation. The corporation’s legal name is the South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) Economic Development Corporation with an operating name of the South Central Ontario Region (SCOR).

The incorporation had been previously approved by each of the five county partners; including, Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford. The five Counties are the shareholders of the new corporation and the Board of Directors will be comprised of elected County representatives. The existing members of the SCOR Executive Committee will remain as the transitional Board until the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) in order to ensure a smooth transition. The first AGM will be scheduled in the near future.

Upon completion of the SCOR strategic plan “The Path Forward” and upon review of the recommendations provided by GGA Management Consultants in their review of organizational models, SCOR determined that the most effective way to lead change in the region was through the formation of a corporation.

“This is a watershed moment for the participants and stakeholders (elected officials, staff members, consultants, representatives of provincial and federal governments and members of the public) who have worked long and hard for the diversification and growth of our Region’s economy,” says Norfolk Mayor and Chair of the Interim Board of Directors, Dennis Travale. “Being incorporated provides the structure necessary to implement our strategic plan and we look forward to future successes.”

Tillsonburg Mayor and Vice-Chair of the Interim Board of Directors, Stephen Molnar comments that “The County of Oxford is proud to join with our other partners to provide leadership in the regeneration of our fragile regional economy. What started as a common bond due to the elimination of a once proud tobacco industry has morphed into a regional economic development model that looks to the future with renewed hope and is fostered in the goal of providing ‘choice’ for the next generation of our shared citizenry.”

“Brant County enthusiastically supports the incorporation of SCOR and looks forward to actively participating in the new corporation" states Mayor Ron Eddy of Brant County, a Board member.

Norfolk Councillor Jim Oliver, another Board member, says "Having the SCOR economic development corporation in place will now make it easier to facilitate and support programs and initiatives that cross the partners' municipal boundaries, such as developing agricultural biomass fuel and regional tourism projects."

Aylmer Mayor Bob Habkirk, representing the County of Elgin on the Board, expressed his pleasure with the corporation noting that “The five SCOR partners now have the opportunity to advance economic initiatives and growth throughout South Central Ontario. We look forward to working with the Federal and Provincial Governments and other regional organizations such as Western Wardens, SWEA and SOMA to revitalize and diversify our economy.”

“We are very pleased that SCOR has reached this milestone. We are looking forward to playing an active role in SCOR’s efforts to establish a strong and diversified regional economy” says Thames Centre Mayor Jim Maudsley representing Middlesex County.

SCOR is in the process of establishing all of the necessary formal and administrative processes, including establishing an office with staff dedicated, for implementation of our regional strategy. A number of strategic priorities are moving forward and SCOR is working with community and business groups from across the region on the following priorities:

Maintaining the Competitive Edge
Supporting Entrepreneurship
Accessing the Marketplace
Implementing a Regional Communications Strategy on Skills & Training
Fielding a Winning Team
Advancing the Rural Role in Renewable Energy
Expanding Research, Development & Commercialization

SCOR is a partnership of the five Counties of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford. The founding and continuing focus of the SCOR partnership remains the economies of the rural and small urban aspects of the traditional tobacco production region – ‘the Sand Plain’. The partnership recognizes that a regional approach to economic development is important to improving the vitality and sustainability of our communities. By working together, the partners can harness the region’s potential and become a rural economic powerhouse in Ontario and

Canada

November 4, 2009: SCOR Partners Adopt Strategic Management Plan

The South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) is pleased to announce the approval
its long-range Strategic Management Plan, The Path Forward, by all of the SCOR County Partners; namely, the County Councils of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford. The Path Forward is a long term strategy for the region that has been developed to assist in the diversification of the regional economy by focusing on 15 priorities that will:

Respond to the challenges of economic change and decline being experienced throughout the region;
Strategically invest in people, businesses, communities and infrastructure vital to the
diversification of the regional economy;
Bring an estimated investment of $760M from public sources into the regional economy
with approximately $700M going to public infrastructure;
Attract matching private investment;
Create an estimated 15,500 jobs across the region within five years; and,
Become a model of rural economic revitalization demonstrating ways to sustain and expand agriculture while adding and expanding complementary rural and urban economic activity.

The Path Forward was developed with the assistance of volunteers from across the region and the SCOR Executive Committee wishes to thank the more than 100 community leaders who contributed to the development of the strategy.

SCOR has also been seeking ways to address our ability to sustain implementation of the strategy and the Executive Committee has endorsed a resolution to incorporate SCOR as a not-for-profit agency. The SCOR Partners have also endorsed this recommendation and have confirmed their ongoing commitment to the partnership.
SCOR is also undertaking a multi-year analysis of the funding required to support the
implementation of the strategy and will be seeking support from senior levels of government for implementation of its 15 Priorities for Action.

ABOUT SCOR

SCOR is a partnership of the five Counties of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford whose founding and continuing focus remains the economies of the rural and small urban areas of the traditional tobacco production region – ‘the Sand Plain’.
The partnership recognizes that a regional approach to economic development is important to improving the vitality and sustainability of our communities. By working together, the partners can harness the region’s potential and become a rural economic powerhouse in Ontario and Canada. Additional information, including a copy of The Path Forward, can be found at www.scorregion.com .

Media Contacts:

Dennis Travale, Chair, SCOR Executive Committee
Phone: (519) 426-5870 ext. 1220

Stephen Molnar, Vice Chair, SCOR Executive Committee
Phone : (519) 842-6428 ext. 3234

November 4, 2009: Sand Plains Community Development Fund

The South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) is pleased to announce that the
Government of Canada has recently launched the Sand Plains Community Development Fund, a $15-million application-based program to assist rural communities in the tobacco-growing region known as the Sand Plains to transition to a non-tobacco based economy. Funding will be targeted to community-based initiatives that support regional development, attract and retain people and
investment, and stimulate business development and job creation in the five counties of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford.

The Fund has two separate components: Community Development Support and Access to Capital. The Community Development Support component provides non-repayable contributions to not-for-profit projects designed to explore and develop new and sustainable community and regional development opportunities. The goal is to enhance regional capacity to generate and support diverse economic development activities in order to achieve a sustainable, prosperous and diverse
economy driven by innovation.

The goal of the Access to Capital component is to foster entrepreneurship in the region by increasing the availability of patient capital for small business start-ups and expansions in priority sectors. Patient capital provides flexible repayment terms negotiated to encourage the long-term viability of the borrower, amortized over 5 to 10 years at an interest rate return at or below conventional lending rates.

“SCOR is pleased to see that the vision and objectives identified through the development of our strategic plan, The Path Forward, have been integrated into the program’s design” says SCOR Chair Dennis Travale, “and we believe that this will support SCOR”s vision of creating a rural economic powerhouse.”

“We encourage private businesses and not-for-profit organizations that are taking on the challenge of renewing our economy to review the program and to consider submitting an application”, he adds, “it is only through innovation and entrepreneurship that our rural economies will be successful in meeting the economic challenges of today and tomorrow.”

For more information on this program, please visit www.sandplains.ca .

ABOUT SCOR
SCOR is a partnership of the five Counties of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford whose founding and continuing focus remains the economies of the rural and small urban areas of the traditional tobacco production region – ‘the Sand Plain’.
The partnership recognizes that a regional approach to economic development is important to improving the vitality and sustainability of our communities. By working together, the partners can harness the region’s potential and become a rural economic powerhouse in Ontario and Canada. Additional information, including a copy of The Path Forward, can be found at www.scorregion.com .

Media Contacts:

Dennis Travale, Chair, SCOR Executive Committee
Phone: (519) 426-5870 ext. 1220

Stephen Molnar, Vice Chair, SCOR Executive Committee
Phone : (519) 842-6428 ext. 3234

April 29, 2009: SCOR partners considering priorities for action
Simcoe – South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) is a municipal partnership of the five Counties of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford. The SCOR partners recognize that taking a regional approach to economic development is important to improving the vitality and sustainability of our communities. By working together, we can harness the region’s potential and become a rural economic powerhouse for the Province of Ontario and Canada.

Good progress has been made on turning the SCOR Vision into an achievable implementation strategy. The volunteer working groups have recommended 15 priorities for action. The SCOR Executive Committee is seeking community comments before making recommendations to the SCOR partners.

Public open houses from 4:00-5:30 p.m. are being held across the region as follows:

Monday May 11, 2009 - Coldstream Community Centre, 10227 Ilderton Road (north of Egremont Dr)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - Burford Community Centre & Arena, Burford (Potter Drive)
Wednesday May 13, 2009 - Delhi District German Home, 443 James Street (Hwy 3), Delhi
Thursday May 14, 2009 - Shedden Keystone Complex, 35921 Talbot Line (Hwy 3), Shedden
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - Norwich Community Centre, 53½ Stover Street South (Hwy 59), Norwich

Information on the 15 priorities for action is available at www.scorregion.com .

ABOUT SCOR
SCOR is a municipal partnership of the five Counties of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford. While the cities of London, Brantford and St. Thomas are not part of the partnership, it is recognized that the SCOR strategy will require linkages with the plans of the large urban centres in the region. The partners will seek opportunities for economic cooperation and coordination of efforts.

Media Contacts:

Dennis Travale, Chair, SCOR Executive Committee, Phone: (519) 426-5870 ext. 1220

Stephen Molnar, Vice Chair, SCOR Executive Committee, Phone : (519) 842-6428 ext. 3234

January 19, 2009: SCOR partners pursuing economic vision

Simcoe – The South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) is pleased to announce the adoption of a
vision for the economic revitalization and diversification of the five county region it represents. The
vision was developed by the SCOR Strategic Planning Team and recently approved by the
partnership. This vision is:

In 2020, SCOR has a sustainable, prosperous and diverse economy
driven by innovation. Our bountiful land, enterprising people and dynamic communities
are the foundation for our success.

The vision is supported by seven strategic directions and the partnership is currently preparing
actions plans for each: agribusiness & food industry; tourism; manufacturing; energy, environment,
culture & quality of life; and, public infrastructure.

“Adoption of this vision is an important first step in developing a long term strategy for our region”,
says Dennis Travale, SCOR Executive Committee Chair.

“Over the past few months, the Strategic Planning Team has worked diligently to develop a vision
for SCOR”, says Strategic Planning Team member, Brenda Lammens, “and we are confident that
the vision and strategic priorities, when implemented, will ensure a bright future for the region”.
“It is vital to the success of the plan to involve community and business stakeholders in
development and implementation of the Plan. We wish to thank the volunteers who gave us their
time and expertise in recent months” adds Travale. “They have truly provided invaluable expertise
and advice and we are grateful for their contributions”.

Thanks to Kim Black, Jerry Davis, Phillip Esseltine, Al Freeman, Bryan Gilvesy, George Gilvesy, Brenda Lammens, Donna Lunn, Grace McGartland, Don McKay, Victor Osztrovics, Keith Ovington, Mike Perovick, John Picard, Mary Simpson, and Peter Twynstra.

Work is beginning this month on development of action plans for each of the strategic directions.
Again, volunteers, from across the region, will be involved in the planning process. This phase of
work will be completed by early April followed by approval of the Strategic Management Plan by
the SCOR partnership with implementation underway by mid-year.

ABOUT SCOR

SCOR is a partnership of the five Counties of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford. The
partnership recognizes that a regional approach to economic development is important to
improving the vitality and sustainability of our communities. By working together, the partners can
harness the region’s potential and become a rural economic powerhouse in Ontario and Canada.
While the cities of London, Brantford and St. Thomas are not part of the partnership, it is
recognized that the SCOR strategy will require linkages with the plans of the large urban centres in
the region. The partners will seek opportunities for economic cooperation and coordination of
efforts.

-30-

Media Contacts:

Dennis Travale, Chair, SCOR Executive Committee, Phone: (519) 426-5870 ext. 1220

Stephen Molnar, Vice Chair, SCOR Executive Committee, Phone : (519) 842-6428 ext. 3234

August 6, 2008: SCOR partnership welcomes Community Futures support

June 17, 2008: SCOR partnership selects officers, approves path forward

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