Business View Magazine | December 2020

288 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2020 Corporation to Hydro One Inc., will result in hundreds of well-paying jobs coming to Orillia and $200 to $300 million in near-term economic impact. “Hydro One came to Orillia in June of 2015 wanting to purchase our electric distribution system,” says Clarke. “We said, ‘Thank you very much, but no thank you.’ So, they offered to build a regional operation center to control the electricity within this area, as well as a provincial warehouse. To that proposal, they added a grid control center. It was going to be a backup grid control center for the province, now it’s going to be the primary.” That investment alone would represent north of $150 million in construction value for the City of Orillia. “It’s economic development, it’s job creation, it’s economic spinoff within the community,” adds Clarke. “And those jobs are really high-quality jobs.” As an adjunct to the Hydro One deal, Orillia is in the final throes of having high-speed internet installed through Bell Canada’s fibre network – an investment in the tens of millions of dollars. With so many businesses going remote during the pandemic, the Mayor is confident this will allow many capabilities moving forward as more and more people start to take advantage of the transition to technology industries. Another exciting project is the Horne Business Park expansion, on the western edge of the city. “We are offering 25 full-service acres of employment land for market,” Jackson explains. “We’re also providing an incentive for development on employment lands in the park by waiving industrial development charges until the end of 2021.” Over the last five years, the City of Orillia has seen a record number of building permits each year, both commercial and residential. According to Sugden, it’s because Orillia has nexus with the surrounding townships. He shares, “We are the urban centre that provides all the services that people in the townships need. That’s why we have the modern library, why we’ve opened a major recreation centre, and why we Hydro One under construction Bell Canada’s Fiber Network Matchedash Lofts