March 2017 | Business View Magazine

214 215 a major factor for the company coming to relocate, here. The Northern Gold facility, as well – they tapped into our incentive program and they’ll save upwards of $3 million over the next ten years.” Another advantage for com- panies wishing to set up shop in Welland is the city’s streamlined permitting processes. “We always want to be in the ground quickly,” says Degazio. “We’ve heard of companies who bought property in locations where it takes them a year before they get a building per- mit.We’ re able to cut through the red tape and get people in the ground and get a return on their investment quicker than any other city that I know of.We have a team inside of City Hall dedicated to moving the process forward as quickly as possible.We’ ve gotten companies in the ground within a month and completed building within a year. Their Welland, Ontario AT A GLANCE WELLAND, ONTARIO WHAT: A city of 50,000 WHERE: In the Niagara region of southern Ontario WEBSITE: www. welland.ca only constraint was how fast they could build.” Finally, Degazio explains that Welland pro- vides completely serviced, industrial land for sale. “The park that G.E. is on was serviced ten years ago,” he states. “It had water, sewer, road, natural gas, and hydro right next to the site – shovel ready. Companies won’t come unless they have serviced, industrial land. So, the best way to get companies to come here is to make it as easy as possible for them. Our mandate is ‘get ‘em here, get ‘em in the ground, and let’s get employment as fast as possible.’” The population of the Niagara region is about 430,000 people, and Welland has about 51,000. Degazio says that housing develop- ment in the city is “going through the roof,” and that it has sold a significant amount of acreage for new housing, which, he adds, is some of UPPER CANADA CONSULTANTS ENGINEERS / PLANNERS 261-1Martindale Road, St. Catharines ON L2W 1A1 905-688-9400 Civil Engineering | Urban Planning | Urban Design Land Development | Project Management 1-261 Martindale Road, St. Catharines, Ontario L2W 1A1 905-688-9400 Upper Canada Consultants designs and facilitates the development of complete communities, by a hands on Civil Engineering and Urban Planning team of skilled professionals. Upper Canada Consultants provides our clients, both municipalities and developers with the knowledge and design principles that reflect over 30 years of experience of working throughout the Niagara Region. Photo © Anthony Gallaccio