Business View Civil and Municipal | May 2021

139 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MAY 2021 were not previously possible due to a lack of available land. The automotive industry is a major economic driver in Ingersoll, where the General Motors CAMI assembly plant employs 2800 people. The two million square foot facility has been in operation since 1989, and currently produces the popular Chevrolet Equinox. In January, General Motors announced that they will be producing their new BrightDrop EV600 light commercial vehicle at the CAMI plant, an astounding $1 billion investment in the facility. This fully electric van with a 250-mile capacity will be the first of its kind and will be exclusively manufactured in Ingersoll. Comiskey states, “This investment guarantees the future of our plant and employees, at least for the next 10 to 15 years. We don’t have to stress ourselves out with CAMI. We know that if a plant of that size redirects itself, it can have a devastating effect on a municipality. Now we are able to focus on other directions. That’s going to be very exciting for us.” Provincial alliances and community partnerships are essential to the growth and success of Ingersoll, affording options to market the town on a larger scale. “We partner through a number of different organizations,” explains Curtis Tighe, Director of Economic Development. “The Southwestern Ontario Marketing Alliance is the main one. And then there are sub-sectors – the Ontario Manufacturing Communities Alliance, the Ontario Food Cluster and the Ontario Real Estate Alliance through the Economic Development Council of Ontario. Through these partnerships, Ingersoll, a community of 13,000 people, can market the town at a broad worldwide level. We meet with companies that are interested in investing in Ontario and Southwestern Ontario, and we market the area to them.” As the Town of Ingersoll looks for new investment, they are targeting industries outside of the automotive sector, looking into food and INGERSOLL , ONTAR IO