Economic Development

The Chamber sees Economic Development facilitation as a key issue for our business community.

The Chamber’s goal is to develop a positive business climate for our key industries: Manufacturing, Agriculture, Tourism & Hospitality and the Service Sector.

The Chamber has taken the following positions to actively promote this goal:

· The Chamber urged the municipal governments in the region to create and empower a new regional Economic Development Organization to take the task of promoting Windsor and Essex County for our own business community and to attract new investment.

· The Chamber put forward a resolution through the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC AGM 2007) for the Province of Ontario to create a regional economic development strategy and to aid communities who seek to advance their economic development goals.

· The Chamber has actively created, participated or sought forums for resolution of issues that impact economic development in the region. These include resolving the Border infrastructure and regulation issues assuring free flow of people and goods across the Border, region’s municipal issues and advocating for industry specific issues such as Manufacturing, Agriculture, Tourism & Hospitality, Retail etc.

Windsor-Detroit Border

The Windsor-Detroit Border crossings need to be addressed immediately as a key strategic asset.

The Chamber has placed great emphasis on border related issues. The Chamber has advocated its positions in order to:

· Increase the border’s capacity (Support for the DRIC process)

· Improve its existing crossings, plazas, access roads and other infrastructure (Support for Get Windsor Essex Moving and DRIC)

· Ensure the free flow of people and goods (Advocacy on WHTI)

· Promote the Border as a single most important asset for the region’s economic prosperity (Presentations to all levels of government)

Environment and Energy

The Chamber has recognized the importance of reliable and affordable energy for our region’s economy.

The Chamber is working in partnership with local and provincial energy based organizations to promote energy conservation and provide information to our business community necessary to save money on their energy costs. The first Windsor Essex Energy Fair event took place on April 25, 2008.

The business community should not be paying more for regulatory restrictions due to their use of utilities. The Chamber has expressed concern with municipal by-laws, such as the City of Windsor’s Draft Sewage By-Law that have the potential to generate additional costs for businesses that already pay for these services.

Government Budgets and Finance

All government budgets must be based on principles of fiscal prudence, fair and equitable taxation and emphasis on economic growth and development.

As the voice of business the Chamber regularly addresses municipal, provincial and federal budgets to look after the interests of the local business community. This year the Chamber has emphasized economic development and fairness in taxation as its key messages.