Mayor Karen Farbridge’s Blog

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business came to meet with me today to share research pertaining to small and medium-sized businesses. 

Some of the points of note from their presentation:

• the CFIB has 700 members in Guelph and has three representatives on the ground in our community meeting with this membership
• each week the CFIB makes nearly 2000 personal visits to their member businesses in Ontario
• most Ontario businesses are small  (57% have no employees at all)
• while small businesses were hit by the recession they performed better overall than medium-sized and larger businesses
• optimism about the economy is growing among independent businesses
• tax, regulatory, fuel and energy costs are at the top of their concerns;  concerns about the cost of insurance are growing
• the ratio of residential taxes to business taxes in Guelph is lower than the provincial average (that is a good thing) but when the provincial education tax is applied the ratio becomes very skewed for our local businesses compared to other municipalities
• the biggest concern they are hearing from their members is the impact of the construction from the  infrastructure renewal program

The Economic Development Department will be digging down deeper into their research to better understand the needs of this important sector of our local economy and to find municipal best practices across Ontario and the country.

I have blogged a couple of times about the growing IT sector in Guelph.  This led to an invitation for me to attend DemoCampGuelph.  I went last night to the e-Bar along with over 160 others from this elusive IT sector.  The place was packed. 

The evening started with a talk from an social media author.  She spoke about how social media strengthens community.  She was followed by several people who got a few minutes to pitch their latest innovation.

This is how they describe it: DemoCampGuelph is for anyone in and around Guelph interested in software, the web and technology! Startup junkies, wage slaves, consultants, students, indie professionals, engineers, designers, money and marketing guys. If you want to see and talk about some interesting things, and get to know other people in the Guelph tech community, come on out! You don’t have to demo to attend.

I had the pleasure of attending part of the IT conference yesterday at the Frank Hasenfratz Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing.  It was a huge success with over 180 participants.  One of the sessions I attended featured Phil Greenway (Greenway Home Products) and Ali Asaria (Well.ca).  It was really interesting to hear the story of these two Guelph companies and how they embrace technology for exceptional customer service.

Here are my welcoming remarks:

Good morning everyone. I’m very pleased to be part of this conference – the first technology conference of its kind in Guelph.

A little over a month ago, I had the opportunity to meet with a number of businesses from Guelph’s IT sector. I was struck by the fact that, while it doesn’t often make headlines, this sector has been building a significant presence in our community over the past couple of years. Quite a few of these businesses are located in our downtown.

After meeting with the businesses, I commented on my blog that an IT Accelerator Centre in our downtown could be just what we need to help achieve the important goals of job creation and downtown revitalization. My post was well-received, and I was impressed with the number of enthusiastic and creative ideas that were posted in response.

I learned that those in the technology sector meet regularly to share ideas and talk about all things tech-related. These meetings are open to all. Business leaders have also set up peer-to-peer networks. Clearly, this is a group of professionals who thrive on collaboration. So, it’s no surprise that they have come together to organize this conference, and connect the technology sector with other sectors in our local business community.

It strikes me that these are exactly the kind of professionals who would thrive as part of an innovation cluster or an accelerator centre, where the strengths of each firm contribute to the collective growth of the sector as a whole.

As all of you know, Guelph’s economy has been affected by the global recession. We know that we need to diversify our local economy in order to build resiliency for the future. A strong information technology sector offers an ideal opportunity to do that. And, it helps us to attract a skilled, creative workforce – exactly the kind of “creative class” workers that every city is trying to attract.

From what I have seen, our local IT professionals are committed to Guelph and excited about the potential that exists here. I think today’s conference will build that excitement, and move us further on the path to becoming a centre for technology innovation.

As one local IT enthusiast commented on my blog, “These are exciting times to work and live in Guelph.” I couldn’t agree more.

The federal government announced today that it is investing $1,495,000 in Hammond Power Solutions. The funding will be used to expand operations and add a research and development test laboratory.

This is great news for our community, as it will create jobs and enhance competitiveness.