Business View Civil & Municipal | July 2022

63 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7 pools, bocce, walking track, baseball, soccer, and other facilities would attract a lot of people. Steele reports, “Our parks system, our sports facility… that is a huge draw for us, and we knew that when we finished building it in 2013. We’re seeing young families move to Port Colborne for that. It’s the quality of life here. A traffic jam for us is four cars.” Older working people are also coming from the Greater Toronto Area, especially during the pandemic, while working remotely to take advantage of the small-town feel, fast internet, outstanding views, and the unique businesses in the picturesque downtown core. Steele says gongoozlers (those who harbor an interest in canals and canal life, but do not actively participate) flock to their promenade to take in the ships coming and going. He boasts, “We’ve got a beautiful promenade, right along the canal, so they’ll grab some food in one of our restaurants or cafes and sit and eat lunch or eat dinner and watch ships go by. That’s big for us.” Most of Port Colborne’s residents work in marine-related industries and have done so since the community was first established. First and foremost is marine work, whether it be on the ships themselves or within the repair business of the marine industry. Shipping by water, rail, and road are the largest economic drivers for the port city, and that includes several machine shops which help repair the ships and the canal. Steele says one such company just created a large portion of the entrance into the Los Angeles Chargers new stadium. He notes, “We’re world renowned in stainless steel fabrication and in speciality fabrication.” Port Colborne is also home to two milling companies, including AMD Milling, which makes flour and a variety of baking mixes. Agriculture is another large industry in the Port Colborne area and Ceres Grain Storage has a large warehouse in the city that stores much of those crops prior to shipping. There are also many logistics companies in Port Colborne, and C I TY OF PORT COLBORNE , ONTAR IO