The City of Welland has achieved what many other Ontario municipalities have yet to — it’s streamlined its building approval process so projects get in the ground quickly.
In the city of approximately 52,000 residents in Niagara Region, building permits for industrial, commercial and residential projects are ready in less than three months, and in many cases, in as little as four to six weeks.
In many Greater Toronto Area (GTA) municipalities, the process can take 18 to 24 months, statistics show.
The proactive approach has paid off for Welland, states the city. Several major new industries have located there in recent years and others have carried out major expansions.
A decade ago, the former manufacturing sector was in decline and the local economy was suffering. The city was exploring ways to reverse its fortune as there was a lack of incentive programs in Ontario or Canada to encourage businesses to locate in places like Welland, says Dan Degazio, Welland’s director of economic development.
About five years ago, the economic development team came up with the idea to expedite approvals.
“Our thought process was if we can get a building in the ground quicker, manufacturers can get their products to market quicker,” says Degazio.
The greater return on investment they receive, the quicker the entire community benefits.
“We had to get political buy-in from the mayors,” says Degazio.
“In the last three or four elections, we’ve had mayors who are very proactive, including current mayor Frank Campion, and that’s been a major part of it.”
Unlike many cities, where economic development operates under the planning department, the economic department is a separate entity in Welland. When a business or industry has a concept for a building or development, the economic development team is ready and willing to assist.
“If you’re looking to develop a project here, I have a team that includes an engineer, a building official and a fire official,” explains Degazio. “If you’re going to build a 10,000-square-foot plant, you show what us you want to do, our whole team sits down with you to figure out what you need to do and throws in some ideas. When the plan comes to city hall, it’s ready to be approved. We give our staff one shot and put the onus on them to get it right.”
Welland also has a good supply of serviced industrial/commercial land on greenfield and brownfield sites at much less cost than in the GTA and incentives available through the Welland Niagara Gateway Economic Zone and Centre Community Improvement Plan Incentive Program, explains the city.
It offers quick access to international transportation routes such as the Welland Canal, railway and major highways. The U.S. border is 20 minutes away.
As well as providing skilled workers for the local job market, Niagara College, a technical school, tailors training specific to employers’ needs.
Since 2015, Welland’s pro-development approach and incentives have attracted almost 1.5 million square feet of new industrial development. Some of the industries that have relocated or expanded there include:
General Electric’s new $240-million, 550,000-square-foot multimodal “Brilliant” manufacturing plant was completed the end of May. It manufactures engines for the oil and gas industry and will create 220 jobs.
British Columbia-based Northern Gold Foods, a manufacturer of cereal, granola and breakfast bars, purchased property in 2015, started construction of a 96,000-square-foot plant a month later and began production the following year. It has added 75,000 square feet since.
Hydac Corp., a German-based hydraulics and fluidics company, is investing $3.7 million to expand its manufacturing plant by 2019.
Brampton Brick is relocating part of its masonry products business to Welland in 2019. It has purchased a 600,000-square-foot facility and started renovations.
Welded Tube of Canada opened in Welland in 2011 and has invested $50 million into the retrofit of an existing facility and added 40,000 square feet.
Welland and the Niagara Region are registering on the radar of commercial, industrial and residential developers who never considered the area before, says Degazio.
“With the success of the GTA and shrinking land area there, more developers are realizing that once you get over the Burlington Skyway, you have humans living here and there is opportunity. We have three or four developers come who had never been here before,” he says.
“People from the GTA come here and say they want to be in the ground in six months and they’re shocked when we say we can do it in six weeks.”
One of the city’s newest development proposals is for a five-storey, 130-unit retirement home at 439 King St. Once complete, the city estimates the building and land will be valued at $33 million and it will bring new residents to Welland.
The economic development department isn’t resting on its laurels and continues its efforts to attract more industrial and commercial development.
“We’re just approving a new brownfield program and we have a couple of irons in the fire for large industries,” says Degazio. “But if we get 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot companies, we will be very happy, especially anything that works with Niagara College.”
Degazio says enterprises of all sizes are welcome. A new company is building a 20,000-square-foot advanced hydroponics plant to produce green leafy vegetables, in partnership with the University of Guelph.
“In a small community, you have to be competitive,” says Degazio. “We have a big emphasis on building relationships and we want to make sure we have a community people want to come to. For industries, we have good incentive programs. We have an abundance of industrial land serviced and ready to go. We are able to get people in the ground with no fuss, no muss.”
Still not open Not GE anymore no guarantee that new owner just didn’t buy it for the equipment to move elsewhere. Business is business, whatever is the most profitable. Millions of taxpayers dollars in the ground and still no huge influx of jobs that were promised. And Manufacturing by US companies is frowned upon.