Business View Magazine | January 2020

223 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 INGERSOLL , ONTAR IO position now, in that we have very few lots available to builders for future development. We do have some development that is good for about four more years, but that’s it. So, we’ve been negotiating with our neighbors to the south – the Township of Southwest Oxford – to bring approximately 1,000 acres into Ingersoll. That should happen over the next few months, bringing in industrial, commercial, and residential lands. We’re very excited to have about 630 of those acres open for industrial, right on the south side of Hwy 401.” BVM: Is manufacturing the main economic driver? Comiskey: “The development of Ingersoll goes back 25 years or so, when CAMI Automotive came to town. Today, they are our largest employer and the only General Motors assembly plant left in Canada. They build the Chevrolet Equinox here. There are 3,000 workers there, but beyond that, all the plants that supply parts and services for CAMI have started moving to infrastructure dollars. Number two on the agenda is infrastructure. That development started about eight years ago when Council said we needed to put infrastructure dollars away in reserves for our water, sewers, storm drains, etc.; going through the town and upgrading the infrastructure to make the water much more palatable, and to make our new developments on the outskirts of town, serviceable. “That project has been underway through the summers, to the annoyance, I’m sure, of all the population because of detours, but we’ve done a fantastic job and the town is in phenomenal shape as far as infrastructure goes. And it’s not only roads, but also buildings and structures. We’ve addressed town hall, the fire hall, our indoor swimming pool area, recreational areas; in my opinion, Ingersoll’s recreational services are second to none for a town our size. So, all in all, society-wise, we’ve been very blessed.” Freeman: “The population of Ingersoll is around 13,000. We are actually in an unenviable