Southgate-Ontario

5 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 with food scraps from across the province being processed for natural gas feeding. The remaining food fibers will then be used for fertilizer or compost, making it a very environmentally friendly process. “In everything we attract here, we attempt to attract eco-friendly businesses.” “Greenlid makes single-use cutlery and plates, and they make it all out of non-wood fibrous materials. Any of their leftover fibers are put back onto the farmer’s fields to be used as fertilizer. The majority of the natural resources to manufacture these products will be from local farmers in the area,” notes Murphy, adding that Greenlid recently received $500,000 from the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund. As for future business attraction, Murphy says there is a 12-acre lot in the Eco-Park currently owned by a developer, and ready for development as a build-to-suit and lease property. She describes, “It’s an industrial plaza. The lot at the front is a little bit narrower, so we have some space for smaller industries, a space for people who have a home-based business that have grown enough to move into the industrial park. In the larger space, we will have a manufacturer as the anchor business.” In the second phase of the Eco-Park, the township has 40 acres of M1 industrial land available, and Murphy suggests there is a possibility of a few manufacturers taking over that space. With roadwork development happening in 2024, she maintains that the lot should be available for sale in 2025. “We need to create more jobs,” she asserts. “We’re attracting the residents to move here from the GTA, people who want a more rural, charming country life and a cute downtown and having the accessibility to our trail system and our ponds and all of the nearby tourism and recreation spaces. We want people to live, work and play here. So, they need to have jobs in order to be invested in our community and also to have the time to have their kids in sports and to volunteer for community groups.” TOWNSHI P OF SOUTHGATE Supporting existing and attracting new business is another priority of Southgate, which has joined with the municipalities of Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, and West Grey, to form the South Grey Chamber of Commerce. The first order of business for the new chamber is a regional job fair, connecting companies with potential employees throughout Grey County. Through Rural Economic Development (RED) funding, the township is also participating in a regional collaboration to determine what the barriers to employment are, and how to overcome those barriers. “We’re selecting a business from each municipality to hire someone and help them overcome barriers. There are a lot of barriers to employment, and with that funding that we received we’re looking to support not only the workforce but also the businesses as well,” Murphy says. A Community Improvement Plan offers to fund downtown Dundalk businesses that want to make façade or streetscape improvements, paying up to 50% of the cost of renovations. “We did receive some RED funding as well for downtown Dundalk,” adds Murphy. “We now have flower planters, and benches so that people can come after they do a little shopping and relax in those areas and enjoy the gathering spaces.”