An economic resurgence for Hamilton

[thistleclub]

'We're on the move,' says mayor
Collaborative approach to development makes city 'unstoppable'
July 23, 2008
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator

"Hamilton is open for business."

With those few words, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger tackled a long-held perception about the city at a community briefing held yesterday following up the progress out of the city's first economic summit held in May.

Eisenberger cited investments in economic development, mass transit, affordable housing, the Lister Block, the McMaster Innovation Park and the cleanup of Randle Reef as proof the city is moving in the right direction.

"We're on the move and we're making significant progress," Eisenberger told about 75 people, many of whom were unable to attend the sold-out May summit.

He said Hamilton's new collaborative approach to economic development will make the city "unstoppable."

City economic development director Neil Everson outlined the city's related initiatives in 2007, highlighting record building permit values of $801 million, 682 new jobs attracted to the city, $8 million in brownfield redevelopment and efforts to streamline approval processes.

He said his department is working on new strategies for economic development, marketing, business retention and expansion, brownfield development and employment lands.

Mohawk president and honorary summit co-chair MaryLynn West-Moynes said creating change means taking risks and celebrating successes and failures. "It will take a lot of courage. We're on a journey to create an economic future for this community. The old way was to let council do it all by itself and we sit back and take shots at it. That doesn't work anymore."

An earlier joint report written by the City of Hamilton, the Jobs Prosperity Collaborative and the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce called for the creation of a common framework on economic development for the city. That vision was released yesterday and will be steered primarily by the JPC, a civic coalition of more than 60 leaders.

The framework focuses on six key areas:

* innovation, learning and immigration (linking discovery, development and deployment; attracting talented immigrants; leveraging assets in education and training);

* Hamilton's image (new marketing plan identifying key features; soon-to-be announced Hamilton Ambassador Program);

* commercial/industrial land strategy (linked to and integrated with transportation logistics);

* one-window, customer-focused planning process (predictable timelines, emphasis on collaboration to build investor confidence);

* quality of life (combine existing and future community attributes in arts/culture, heritage preservation, ecology, health, poverty reduction);

* economic portfolio (build on economic development department strategy to better define economic clusters, respective value chains, opportunities for business retention and expansion).

Each focus area will be led by a community champion with expertise, and tackled by a team representing a cross-section of the city.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by matt602

I don't really see it that way. I'm sure it was that way in the past, but I think there's a renewed vigor now. Evidence of Hamilton's resurgence is all over the place. James North, downtown redevelopment, re-dev along Barton, Centre Mall re-dev, Rapid Transit project getting going, the waterfront. All things that have happened within the last 5-10 years. Even the damned Lister Block is finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel... and of course there's Stinson's proposal, which while it may not ever happen, nobody was ever even talking about 100 story buildings in Hamilton 10 years ago. Those things don't happen to a city that is dead or dying. People are just finally realizing it, and doing what they can to accelerate and nurture it.

I agree with this wholeheartedy.
The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce has had zero to do with it.
What the heck are they there for other than to shmooze at the Hamilton Club??

[thistleclub]

I get irked at the Chamber sometimes, but I'm not convinced they're dinosaurs. Business networking and advocacy are their main roles, which can obviously look a lot like schmoozing. They've sponsored these sort of vision-and-priority summits previously in the form of "POWER Conferences," three similar annual vision-and-priority summits that drew 150-200 of the area’s top brass – mayor, councilors, MPs and MPPs – plus leaders from business, not-for-profits, health care and education. Those were a bit kitschy (taped for Cable 14, emceed by Laura Babcock) but they were aimed along the same trajectory, even if their methodology was a little game showy. Five community leaders appeared as panelists each year, with each panelist presenting a short talk on what they felt should be two priorities for the city. Afterwards, the conference audience voted on the two top priorities. The results were tabulated by PriceWaterhouseCooper and presented to the mayor, who pledged to return the next year to report on progress on those action items.

2004 Panel included then-publisher of the Hamilton Spectator Jagoda Pike, Winston Tinglin (CEO of United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton) and others.

2004’s winning priorities were
# 1 - Building on Hamilton’s strengths / shovel-ready land use
# 2 - Improving Hamilton’s image

Other suggestions included
# 3 - Nurturing and leveraging our strength in education and healthcare
# 4 - Improving the political culture
# 5 - Attracting the people that will…by improving the quality of life
# 6 - Funding social services
# 7 - Investment in the airport
# 8 - Business tax reduction
# 9 - Harnessing the full potential of our human resources
# 10 - Building and maintaining a strong social infrastructure/spirit


2005 Panelists were
MaryLynn West-Moynes, President, Mohawk College
Bob Young, Owner, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Keith Robson, CEO, Hamilton Port Authority
Dr. Chris Spence, Director HWDSB
Karl Adamcsyk, Winner Hamilton Youth Contest

2005’s winning priorities were
# 1 - Attacking Poverty (Presented by Dr. Chris Spence)
# 2 - Early Development of Children (Presented by Dr. Chris Spence)

Other suggestions included
# 3 - "Brag" Billboards Along the QEW (Presented by Mary-Lynn West Moynes)
# 4 - People Movement in Hamilton (Presented by Keith Robson)
# 5a - Livable Communities (Presented by Karl Adamcsyk)
# 5b - Redefining Community (Presented by Bob Young).
# 6 - Attracting Knowledge-Based Industries (Presented by Karl Adamcsyk)
# 7 - Energy from Waste (Presented by Keith Robson)
# 8 - Adopting 25 Families (Presented by Mary-Lynn West Moynes)
# 9 - Hamilton Needs Fewer Ideas (Presented by Bob Young).


2006 Panelists:
Jean Taillon – VP Enterprise Sales, Bell Canada
Richard Koroscil – President & CEO, John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.
Louise Dompierre – President & CEO, Art Gallery of Hamilton
Mamdouh Shoukri – VP Research & International Affairs, McMaster University
Carolyn Milne – President & CEO, Hamilton Community Foundation

2006’s winning priorities were
#1 – 100 New Companies to Hamilton over three years using a “Tiger Team” (Presented by Jean Taillon)
#2 – 2,500 net new jobs a year over five years (Presented by Richard Koroscil)

Richard Florida's visit, part of another Chamber-sponsored summit, apparently reminded them to stay on track. Glen Murray underlined some of the same the points. As has been noted before, conceptualization is one thing, implementation another. Time will tell.

[raisethehammer]

off the top of my head, I can only think of one thing that was accomplished through these conferences (by the way, Laura Babcock and her group were responsible for putting them together, not the Chamber).
We got new signs at Dundurn Castle when Bob Young went off on the city for those old crappy ones.
Other than that, I can't think of any tangible results so far.
Which is par for the course for the past 20 years.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

off the top of my head, I can only think of one thing that was accomplished through these conferences (by the way, Laura Babcock and her group were responsible for putting them together, not the Chamber).
We got new signs at Dundurn Castle when Bob Young went off on the city for those old crappy ones.
Other than that, I can't think of any tangible results so far.
Which is par for the course for the past 20 years.

Which is why I said "they've sponsored" rather than "they've assembled." My points were that the Chamber (and other Chambers) deals in abstracts such as networking and advocacy, and that May's economic summit isn't sui generis. I don't think the HCC is a dinosaur, but they could definitely be more progressive and proactive. I suppose it's a comment on their membership as much as anything.

[thistleclub]

Related: What portion of the HCC roll could be considered "creative class"? Is a deficiency in that area possibly anchoring the Chamber in a retrograde consciousness?

[highwater]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Related: What portion of the HCC roll could be considered "creative class"? Is a deficiency in that area possibly anchoring the Chamber in a retrograde consciousness?

You're dead on, thistleclub (love the moniker, BTW). Judging from this article, http://thespec.com/article/399565, there are virtually no members of our burgeoning 'creative class' in the Chamber, and a rather large cultural gap between the two. It appears they might be trying, however. I think it might be time to take an 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' attitude. I'm trying to talk my hubby into joining. Understandably, he doesn't see how the chamber can help him, but I'd like to think that *he* could help the *chamber*.

[FairHamilton]

Only one place to go and that is up: http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/499788

[BrianE]

I suspect that the recent moves to diversify Hamilton's Economy into medical sciences and other industries is the only thing keeping our GDP from decreasing.

Of course there's no way to know for sure how Hamilton would be faring if we still relied as heavily on manufacturing as in 1990-1994. Since everyone is comparing the current downturn to the early 90's recession and since we're projecting 0.3% growth compared to a contraction back in 90... we're doing alright... I guess...

[adam]

the value of steel is going up too. they are now making more money for the same output.

[SteelTown]

Brighter future just down the road
Steeltown at No. 7 on list of country's best cities to do business

September 17, 2008
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator

It would cost a 300-person insurance firm or IT company at least $2 million more a year to operate in Toronto than in Hamilton.

That, combined with measures of quality of life, landed Hamilton No. 7 on a ranking of the best cities in the nation in which to do business.

Big cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal did not even break the top 10 of Canadian Business Magazine's 40-city list.

"Unless the prestige of being Toronto, if that even exists anymore, is worth $2 million, it's probably not a smart business decision," said Andy Holloway, features editor at Canadian Business.

The rankings factor in commercial building growth, unemployment rates, crime rates, cost of living, population growth, number of doctorates held by residents, and office property tax rates.

"There wasn't one category where Toronto outperformed Hamilton," Holloway said.

It's the seventh year for the rankings. Last year, Hamilton was 17th and in 2006 it was 16th.

The magazine lists the pros of doing business in Hamilton as: access to a Great Lakes port, an international airport and a highway to Toronto and the U.S. border, along with McMaster's ratio of research funding to operating budget, putting it at the top in Canada.

The cons, says the magazine, are a heavy dependence on the steel sector and the auto market, along with a "grubby" downtown.

Beating out Hamilton on the top 10 are Sherbrooke, Que., Levis, Que., Quebec City, Kitchener, Moncton, N.B., and Saguenay, Que.

Gatineau, Que., Halifax and Barrie round out the top 10. The entire ranking will be published Sept. 19.

McMaster business professor Marvin Ryder says the rating is good news for Hamilton, especially since there are only two other southern Ontario cities in the top 10 and only Quebec City and Kitchener come close to matching Hamilton's size.

But he points out that it only means something if new businesses actually land here.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, the nation's economic forecaster, the years ahead will be much brighter for Hamilton than the years just past.

The board is predicting a flat gross domestic product growth of 0.3 per cent but forecasts that to zoom up to 2.8 per cent between 2009 and 2012.

"The entire manufacturing sector has shown less resilience than we thought it would," said Mario Lefebvre, director of the board's Centre for Municipal Studies.

He said strong investment in machinery and equipment and the slow retreat of the Canadian dollar seemed to point to a turnaround in the sector that has not yet materialized.

Hamilton will lose about 8,000 manufacturing jobs this year, according to the board.

Conference Board forecasts had pegged the loss at about 1,000.

"We are assuming the bleeding has to stop at some point," Lefebvre said.

"We will hit the bottom. We are finding it hard to believe we're not there."

It's no surprise to Hamiltonians that it's been several years of hardship for manufacturing. Since 2005, 20,000 jobs have been cut and manufacturing output has fallen an average of 4.8 per cent. This year, it will drop off by 7.3 per cent.

That hit has spread into other sectors and muted growth in construction and services such as transportation, wholesale and retail trade, finance, insurance and real estate.

But Lefebvre says the city's economy has strong fundamentals, including robust construction numbers, good consumer spending, relatively low unemployment and personal income growth of about 3.5 per cent a year.

"Since I came to Hamilton about 25 years ago, we've been trying to rust-proof our economy and diversify away from manufacturing and heavy industry to other things with different ups and downs," said Mac professor Ryder.

The great challenge, he said, is replacing a handful of companies that once employed hundreds or thousands with many more that employ 50 or 100.

"There are positive signs for Hamilton in that we're now becoming an investment area," said Mayor Fred Eisenberger.

"We're holding our own and there's reason for optimism."

He pointed to growth in the health-care sector and said the city's attempts to diversify its economy beyond manufacturing are meeting with success.

"We're managing the decline. As jobs are lost, others are gained."

[SteelTown]

City ambassadors get computer shtick
High-tech flash drives slick economic recruitment tool that paints rosy picture of Hamilton

September 26, 2008
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator

Dr. Perry Mayer signed up to be a Hamilton ambassador even before he saw the slick, fast-paced and powerful piece of technology he'll have in his pocket.

Mayer, a family physician, was among 100 business leaders gathered for a kickoff launch yesterday, of the Hamilton Business Ambassador program. The project is a joint initiative of the city's economic development department and the Jobs Prosperity Collaborative (JPC).

"I'm a happy mayor today," said Fred Eisenberger. "We absolutely have opportunities. They are all around us. All we have to do is step out with confidence and tell the world."

Those gathered for the lunch presentation at Liuna Station lined up to register as ambassadors and get their photos taken. They were clearly impressed by the sophisticated flash drives that they are being asked to distribute to potential investors here and abroad.

The tiny, one gigabyte sticks, which plug directly into computers, feature videos set to pounding music, a slide show of Hamilton photos, a message from Eisenberger, detailed economic reports, business success stories and an "electronic fact book" about Hamilton.

But what makes the technology unique is that every time a user plugs in the stick, a web-based server will refresh the data.

Pictures will change to correspond with the season, statistics will be updated, videos will be added. The stick also includes direct links to the city's investinhamilton.ca website, and an e-mail button to contact city hall.

"This can be used 10 years from now with all fresh information," said Neil Everson, the city's economic development director.

Hamilton is the only municipality using the technology, according to representatives of its Swiss-based developers, Philm.

It also allows the city to track use of the sticks, including how often they are accessed and from where.

Mayer, for one, admits he wasn't thrilled about moving here when his wife, a pediatric doctor, accepted a job at McMaster five years ago.

Mayer could only picture grey skies and smokestacks. He said the videos and photos contained on those memory sticks shows the true scope and beauty of Hamilton that investors have to see.

"Everything you could want is right here and this demonstrates it in a slick, upscale way."

Syd Hamber, vice-president of commercial real estate broker DTZ Barnicke, called the concept "fantastic."

"We deal with a lot of cities and no one has anything close to this."

The focus of the ambassador program is to bring "jobs, jobs, and more jobs -- and the right kinds of jobs" to Hamilton, said Mark Chamberlain, chair of the JPC.

He told the crowd that Hamiltonians have a tendency to be self-deprecating about their city.

"Get over it. We have a job to do."

To get more information about the ambassador program or to register, call 905-546-4222, or e-mail economicdevelopment@hamilton.ca.

[omro]

Is there an online version of that? \would be interesting to see

[matt602]

Great initiative to offer something that no other city has done before. That's the way Hamilton is going to get to the top. Become revolutionary.

[DC83]

Awesome idea. I thought it was smart when musicians started selling music on these mini flash drives, but to promote a City to business poeple using a business tool is fantastic!

Originally Posted by SteelTown

He told the crowd that Hamiltonians have a tendency to be self-deprecating about their city.

"Get over it. We have a job to do."

Very, very well said. I hope everyone listens!

[Millstone]

it just sounds like a powerpoint on a usb key unless i'm missing something

[DC83]

^^ That's what I thought originally, but when as I read I liked the idea that it updates automatically.
So some business guy can leave it in his drawer for 2 years, find it later on down the road, stick it in and have updated photos/videos/stats.

I think it's a genius way of promoting business to business people.

[adam]

Originally Posted by Millstone

it just sounds like a powerpoint on a usb key unless i'm missing something

Yes you are missing something. The flash drive updates content from a web server every time its plugged in so you can expect a different experience each time an update is made on the other end. Its a great gimmick that will work... but only if they update the web server regularly with a variety of content.

[SteelTown]

MacIsaac, Pether named as chairs of Hamilton Economic Summit

January 29, 2010
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/714146

An education leader and a former captain of industry will be honorary co-chairs of the 2010 Hamilton Economic Summit.

Mohawk College president Rob MacIsaac and former Dofasco president Don Pether -- the current chair of McMaster University's board of governors -- will head the May 17 event.

On the agenda this year is a look at the wealth-generating potential of the Pan Am Games, transportation projects and downtown redevelopment.

The program will include panels and a special presentation highlighting the long-term business impact of the West Hamilton Innovation District anchored by McMaster Innovation Park.

Green redevelopment specialist and author Storm Cunningham will deliver the keynote address.

About 150 local, regional and national leaders will be invited to the event. The moderator for the day will be Nick Bontis of the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University.

A special feature this year will be a lunchtime community forum on downtown redevelopment through new models of investment.

The long-term goal of the Hamilton Economic Summit is to help the city become one of Canada's top 10 mid-size cities for attracting talent and investment.

In addition to the annual event, part-time staff work on projects identified by the summit.

This year's event will feature a report on the current project -- a multi-year effort to help Hamilton attract and retain "next generation" talent.

The project includes a survey of perceptions of Hamilton as a talent magnet.

[SteelTown]

City emerging as model of economic collaboration

March 04, 2010
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/732433

Hamilton is poised to "become a shining star in the knowledge economy," according to a provincial expert who helps communities turn ideas and research into jobs and wealth.

Marc Castel, director of commercialization with the Ontario Centres of Excellence, says the city is well-positioned to take advantage of investments to the knowledge economy promised in yesterday's Throne Speech.

Castel says Hamilton is a frontrunner when it comes to collaboration and bringing together academia, research institutes, businesses and funding agencies.

"They are getting great traction and I expect to really see Hamilton shine above other regions in the province."

Other communities are catching on and mimicking some of the work here, says Castel, with mixed success.

"There is tremendous goodwill in the community to help their own and build a future for themselves and Hamilton. In larger regions, that type of collaboration is hard to achieve."

Cheryl Jensen, vice-president of academics at Mohawk College and a co-convener of the Jobs Prosperity Collaborative, agrees that co-operation will be the key to Hamilton's success.

She pointed to the college's focus on energy technology, engineering and health programs and research as proof of alignment with the city's job creation goals.

"We're working so well together that I think the federal government will look very favourably on Hamilton as it makes investments. We're so aligned around larger strategies."

But the often painful transition from a manufacturing centre producing goods to a knowledge-based economy producing technology and innovation is not complete, say local leaders.

"In my opinion, we have all the ingredients within Hamilton for a knowledge economy but I'm not sure it's been fully realized or put in action," said Ty Shattuck, senior partner and co-founder of research commercialization firm Trivaris.

While Canada has always generously funded research, the country has been terrible at commercialization, partly because private sector funding is scarce.

That hits a city like Hamilton very hard, says Shattuck. Venture capitalists are focused on Toronto and Vancouver and rarely venture afield.

"The 60 kilometres between us and Toronto is like from here to Mars. We have to attract capital to Hamilton to foster all these great ideas."

Mark Chamberlain, chair of the JPC and president of Trivaris, says Hamilton's knowledge economy doesn't abandon steel, but builds from it.

"They are technology companies with a commodity product ... That's what's core to Hamilton and we can grow from it."

McMaster University is a key driver of the knowledge economy in Hamilton. Close to $400 million in research funding came into the university in 2008, ranking second in Ontario.

The school's investment in the McMaster Innovation Park has spurred the attraction of the federal CANMET materials lab and the city's designation of an innovation district.

But Canada must boost funding to research facilities in order to compete globally, said Nick Markettos, assistant vice-president for research partnerships at Mac.

"The capacity isn't there as yet but the MIP is a move in that direction."

Zach Douglas, president of the MIP, said he was disappointed by the lack of stimulus spending in knowledge infrastructure and he hopes to see Ottawa make up for it in today's budget. He's hoping to see federal investment in a new life sciences centre and an advanced automotive research institute at MIP.

Richard Koroscil, chair of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, says there are some vestiges of the old economy that will have to be overcome. For example, a Conference Board of Canada study ranked the city very low on the education level of its workforce. That could be a red flag for potential private sector investment here.

But he says that can be conquered by a clear vision of the types of jobs Hamilton wants to draw and a focus on the city's "world-class" educational institutions.

"We've advanced further than a lot of communities, so that should hold us in good stead."

Recent examples of emerging major players in Hamilton's knowledge economy:

* McMaster Innovation Park and CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory

* Creative Catalyst

* Cossart Exchange

* Trivaris

* Hamilton Incubator of Technology

* McMaster Industry Liaison Office

* David Braley Cardiac Vascular and Stroke Research Institute

* Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation