July 2018

172 173 VISIT: 200 Broadway, Tillsonburg, N4G 5A7 HOURS: Mon. to Fri. 10am–9pm, Sat. 10am–6pm, Sun. Noon –5pm. Enjoy! Great shopping for every season Tillsonburg Town Centre is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Tillsonburg, south of the 401 on Hwy 19. It features over 35 stores and services, such as Shoppers Drug Mart, Walmart, Canadian Tire, and the Town of Tillsonburg. The Centre offers retail variety, ample parking, and a one-stop-shopping experience. (519) 842-7397 n www.tillsonburgtowncentre.com TILLSONBURG, ONTARIO way we work with priorities on infrastructure and what’s underground.All the things we believe make a respon- sible community that’s attractive to investment in the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors.This is not a community built on decisions that happen at council - it’s built around stakeholders, advisory groups, and visiting with industrial leaders.” BVM: What are your major industries? Mayor Molnar: “There is a positive blend of local com- panies that have grown their footprint and their expo- sure internationally, and a key group of international corporations that have a long-standing presence in the community.There still is a larger influence of auto and auto-related parts manufacturing, and servicing OMEs in the southwestern Ontario region–CAMI,Honda,Toyota. In the food processing industry, our two largest players have both done expansions in the last year.One doubled the physical size of their plant, the other had a moderate plant expansion,mostly doubling capacity with inter- nal investment.Agriculture remains a key contributor throughout the region. “Our greatest assets are we’re accessible to all main markets, and we have an abundance of skilled workers. Where we’re located on Hwy 3 used to be the main east/ MAIN STREET TRIVIA Downtown Tillsonburg has one of the widest main streets in Ontario in broad width.As the story goes, the founder of the town,who was also a farmer, insisted on being able to make a 180 degree turn with his whole team of horses and cart. So, he literally drew lines on the side of the street for the necessary distance, and that became the main street. And with the decline in that industry, families were being torn apart with all the pressures on the family farm.At the time, I reached out to mayors in the re- gion and hosted a roundtable about what we could do, collectively, for our neighbors.Out of that came solutions and working with the Ministry of Agri- culture, Food & Rural Affairs and others to ensure there was a certain type of funding available.We worked with the federal government on transition funding.That’s where SCOR came from–the region- al economic development partnership of the coun- ties of Norfolk,Oxford, Elgin, Brant, and Middlesex. It started as a group of mayors sitting around a room knowing we shared a problemwith the demise of the tobacco industry.Nowwe’re an extremely pow- erful advocacy group with a collective voice that im- mediately translates to any individualized priority.” BVM: What’s the status of your downtown district? Mayor Molnar: “We have a recognizable Business Improvement Area (BIA) in the downtown core. The municipality, in our budget, supports matching funds to the BIA’s levy for a façade improvement plan.That plan won the Ontario Association of BIAs (OABIA) award for a downtown improvement pro- gram. If you drive downtown in Tillsonburg, you’ll be impressed by the revitalized facades, and we’re expanding that into the back alleys to rear facades; encouraging second story development.Our CIP (Community Improvement Plan) was created be- cause of an investor deciding whether to develop a property in Tillsonburg, or one he was interested in elsewhere.The property in questionwas a piece of vacant land in our downtown core,probablygener- ating $7,000 per year in taxes.So,we askedwhat we west access between Detroit and Buffalo. It was the 400 series highway before the 401 was built. But we’re not on a 400 series highway, now, so you have to be creative, be aware of it, and build your economies around it. “Tobacco used to be a huge industry when I was first sitting in the mayor’s chair.