Business View Magazine | February 2018

82 83 THE TOWN OF CALEDON, ONTARIO Based in the City of Toronto, Fieldgate Developments manages the land assets of the Fieldgate group. It provides a full range of land development services from site assessment, selection and financing through planning, zoning and services to completion and assumption. The company’s portfolio consists mostly greenfield residential development projects and also include infill and non-residential ventures in various municipalities across the Greater Toronto Area. Fieldgate Developments strength is its versatile and highly qualified professional staff who remain current and participate with Provincial, Regional and Local legislation and initiatives to produce high calibre master planned communities. The expertise they bring allows Fieldgate to continue to thrive amidst constantly changing development parameters. Proudly developing quality communities... hurt the real estatevalue,but itdoes restrictwhat canbe done toaproperty.Duringhis term,MayorThompsonhas triedtostreamline theprocess.“We’re‘rollingout a red carpet’programand‘rollingupthe redtape’tohelpbusi- nesses that comehereget throughasiteplanorbuilding expansionprocessquickly,”he reports.“Our jobasenablers is tohelpthemthrive.Wehost small business summits; create innovationhubs–evensmallerhubs for incubators toallowsmall businesses toestablishhere insteadof in thebigcity.” Challengesaremany.FarmsonthePeel Plainare zonedfor agricultureandfuturegrowth.TheHillshave agricultureandequestrian.Therearehugegravel pits, andCaledonstill needs to findawaytoget fiber inthe ground.AspartofOntario’sSouthwestern IntegratedFibre Technology(SWIFT) initiative,the town’sgoal is toget everyoneconnectedwith100gigabyteswithin10years.They aretryingtosubsidizetheruralcostofconnection,soit’sas affordableasinanyurbancenter. MayorThompsonexplains,“Ifeveryoneisconnected,they canworkremotely.We’refightingwithgridlocktrafficherein theGTA;wecan’tbuildroadsquicklyenough.Andwe’reina hugegrowtharea.That’swhyinnovationhubsandcommu- nityhubsarekey.Peoplemayworkfromhomebutwantto meetwithbusinessassociates,sotheycancometoacenter andrentspaceforathinktanksession.That typeof offering is inhighdemand.” Employment in intelligentmanufacturing isonthe rise. Companies fromthePacificRimarestartingto locate in theCaledonarea,developingparts for theauto,agricultur- al,andconstruction industries.Rather thanwarehousing inventory,theycanmanufactureaspecificpart in24to48 hours (dependingoncomplexity),have it assembled,and delivered.HuskyInjectionMolding,Mars,andCanadian Tirearesomeof the town’s largest employers,andtrue communitypartners.Fiveof the topNorthAmericancon-