Business View Magazine | December 2019

361 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 CHATHAM-KENT , ONTAR IO history sites here for the slaves who escaped from the U.S. back in the 1850s, on. Our heritage and history is quite significant. “Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair are a big draw for anglers throughout the year and for ice fishing in the winter. We also have three provincial parks in Chatham-Kent – Rondeau Provincial Park is the second oldest in Ontario. We have over 70 km of trails, and an additional 60 km within the provincial parks and conservation areas. It’s very much an outdoor lifestyle region. It’s also fair to say that performing arts is strong throughout the municipality. We have a number of theaters – the largest is the 1,210-seat Chatham Capitol Theatre, but there are others operating throughout our smaller communities. Many are volunteer-run and driven, with everything from amateur dramatics to larger- scale productions, and offer an insight into each community’s unique spirit.” BVM: Are there any major infrastructure projects on the go? and we don’t have development charges. If you’re coming into an industrial space, there are no fees other than water and wastewater. We don’t have a housing development charge, but if you go to Toronto they might charge $100,000- plus just for the privilege of building a house there. To locate a business here in Chatham- Kent, it’s a small percentage of the cost versus Toronto and other larger markets.” BVM: Is tourism a significant economic driver? Ansell: “The personality of our community is certainly borne out in our tourism offering. And it’s very much about celebrating our culture. Chatham-Kent is known as the ‘Classic Car Capital of Canada’– coming from many years of manufacturing for the automotive sector. There are festivals and events throughout the summer that focus on classic cars. RM Sotheby’s, a large global auction house, is headquartered here, adding to the strength of that classic car heritage. Black history is one of our biggest tourism drivers. We have three significant black