Business View Magazine | March 2018

112 the summer of 2012 to the summer of 2016,KmX Corporation operated a pilot plant,to commercialize membrane technologies that filter industrial process wastewater. Alongwith the fewbio-economycompa- niesmentioned,there are a number of others at the Research Parkand looking at Sarnia as a primary site location for their future.Alsowithin Lambton county, a strong partner with Sarnia,there is BIOX,a biodiesel facility,and Forge,a newstart up locating in the coun- ty,also focused on biodiesel; Suncor has the largest ethanol facility in Canada; and Enbridgemanages one of the largest Canadian Solar Farms here and an inno- vative farming communitythat formed the CSPCoop to partner with Comet to build a sugar mill from their corn stover. “These are innovative companies that are be- ing borne out of incubators that are here in Sarnia,” Misek-Evans states.“TheWestern Sarnia-Lambton Research Park is the largest incubator for clean tech products in Canada.So,companies are graduating- which is exactlywhat this research park is intended to do: to incubate from laboratorytomarket.It’s veryex- citing that these companies are choosing to stayhere and become commercial entities within Sarnia,once theyhave developed their technologywell enough to commercialize it.” As the business environment in Sarnia continues to evolve,the city is alsomoving steadily into the future with a vibrant redevelopment,communityengage- ment,and sustainable practices agenda.One success story,according toMisek-Evans,is the repurposing and redevelopment of two cityblocks that used to be home to the Sarnia General Hospital,whichwas vacated in 2012,and had been sittingvacant as a deteriorating brownfield site within amature and established neighborhood.Misek-Evans reports, “Last year,after issuing a second RFP,we were successful in garnering the interest of five local businessmen–they SARNIA, ONTARIO PHOTO: GFIVE INC./ LEANN COTTON PHOTOGRAPHY