Business View Magazine | October 2019

263 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2019 trails, a full-service marina, recreation facilities – and the never-disappointing pleasures of watching those steamships sail by. Port Colborne Mayor, Bill Steele, took office in Dec. 2018, after serving as Councillor from 1996 to 2014. The Steele Family has deep roots in the community, going back to the late 1770s, and Bill is carrying on the tradition. His Great Uncle, Dewitt Carter, was Mayor in 1918 and his Great Grandfather, C.S. Steele, served as Mayor from 1927 to 1928. Bill also has a passion for the community’s marine history. He shares, “With this administration coming in, we have a thrust for the marine industry. The industry across the Great Lakes is growing and we want to be a part of that. We have an agreement with the Port of Hamilton to pursue development of our canal lands in Port Colborne. Our Economic Development Office is working closely with the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority to look at acquiring and opening up lands to bring new companies in and bolster what’s currently here.” Cruise ships are now using Port Colborne as a stop and the city is trying to get a proper docking facility and welcoming facility for that. Over the last year and a half, the Mayor’s office, the CAO’s office, and EDO have also been doing one-on-one meetings with existing industrial businesses as to how they can help them grow. Steele says, “One of those companies, we put in touch with Brock University and they’re looking at a collaboration with having students, physically, in the plant. They’ve actually dedicated space to classroom areas. That’s something that’s really new to us and very new to Brock. Personally, as Mayor, I’m very big on collaboration, not only with our surrounding municipalities but with our businesses in town. We can’t always throw money at it, but we can certainly facilitate with upper tier levels of government, with educational institutions, and in our own planning and development departments to help with business growth.” CAO Scott Luey reports, “Last year, prior to the election, the previous council approved an Economic Development Strategy and that was the roadmap that our EDO is using to plan out our PORT COLBORNE , ONTAR IO