Taking Care of Business- November 2016

Community Meeting – Bi-Annual Update
December 6th, 2016  7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Please join us for a Community Meeting on Tuesday, December 6^th for an update on the Economic Partnership’s 2016 activities and 2017 priorities, followed by presentations from three entrepreneurial leaders who are making a difference in our community.

7:30 a.m.- FREE Continental Breakfast
8:00 a.m.- George Mallay, General Manager’s Update
8:30 a.m.- Diana Wright, East Lambton Arts Counsel
8:45 a.m.- Constantine Aviantis, Under Wraps Cafe
9:00 a.m.- Adrian and Jodi Roelands, Roelands Plant Farms

Please register here and invite your friends! (psst…we’ll save a VIP seat for you!)

Where: Lambton College Event Centre -1485 London Road, Sarnia, ON

They say a picture says a thousand words, so we decided to start taking photos to show you where we have been.

Economic Partnership, Project Leader, David Moody and SLIA Chair, Rick Perdeaux, setting up at the very successful Manufacturing Summit held on November 7th at Lambton College Event Centre. The event was well attended with over 85 participants.

The Economic Partnership hosted a reception at the PetroChem Canada conference in Edmonton (Nov 1st and 2nd) and Development Coordinator, Matthew Slotwinski, spoke as part of the Feasibility Panel.

On October 29th and 30th, Sarnia-Lambton exhibited at the Toronto Zoomer Show, a lifestyle expo for the 45+. Project Leader, Ted Zatylny has been attending similar shows as part of the Economic Partnership’s resident attraction strategy for the past 7 years. The booth was co-partnered with Tourism Sarnia-Lambton.

Development Coordinator, Matthew Slotwiniski participated in the EDCO Think Smarter: Economic Development Forum, a conference about building smarter, innovative and more inclusive communities. He was busy networking and forgot to snap a photo.  At this event, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced its annual list of the 21 smartest communities and Sarnia-Lambton was honoured to be recognized as SMART21 for the 2nd consecutive year.

On Manufacturing Day, October 7th, the new Global Business Opportunities Committee hosted the first “Export Community” gathering at Great Pretenders/Creative Education’s new warehouse. The event was kicked off with an inspiring keynote by the export business owner, Joyce Keelan.

Project Leader, Ted Zatylny, participated in the Arts Council of East Lambton’s auction of art painted by local artists and amateurs.

Our General Manager, George Mallay, and Development Coordinator, Matthew Slotwinski, attended the Waste and Recycling Expo in Toronto on November 9th and 10th.

On November 15th, the Economic Partnership co-hosted the Teeny Tiny Southwest Summit in Brooke-Alvinston. 127 people attended the very successful and inspiring full-day event.

Development Coordinator, Matthew Slotwinski, attended the PLMA (Private Label Trade Show) in Chicago, IL from November 13th-15th.

Recent News Headlines

November 16, 2016 – Melanie Irwin, Blackburn News – Sarnia is at the forefront of sustainable practices in the energy sector according to Canadian Senator Richard Neufeld, from British Columbia. Neufeld, is the Chair of a Senate committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources, that has been touring local facilities this week; like the … Read More

November 15, 2016 – Barbara Simpson, The Observer – Brooke-Alvinston may be small, but it’s mighty thanks to the tireless work of its volunteers, says one of the community’s most enthusiastic cheerleaders. “The council supports us and all the community groups work together,” said Helen Lomax, a motivational speaker and entrepreneur who’s part of the … Read More

November 14, 2016 – The Observer Staff – Lambton College has earned a pair of international awards for applied research and entrepreneurship. The college announced Monday it had recently been given the honours – silver in applied research and bronze in entrepreneurship – at the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP) International Awards of … Read More

November 14, 2016 – Simon Crouch, Blackburn News Contributor – A chemical extraction facility that is in the design stage in Sarnia is looking for contracts to buy significant amounts of bi-products from Ontario Farmers. Comet Biorefining plans to extract high quality dextrose and other products from corn stalks and wheat straw starting in 2018. … Read More

Sarnia’s Comet Biorefining preparing bioprocessing facility for 2018 opening

November 11, 2016 – Terry Dawes, cantech letter – Sarnia, Ontario’s Comet Biorefining will be operating a new $70 million commercial-scale biorefinery facility for converting corn stover into cellulosic sugar, which can then be used in making plastics, lubricants, paints and other forms of bio-based products. The plant is forecast to come online in 2018. … Read More

Farm co-op to supply sugar-from-crop-residue manufacturer

November 8, 2016 – Paul Morden, The Observer – There isn’t a better place in the world than Sarnia-Lambton for Comet Biorefining’s first commercial plant to extract cellulosic sugars from corn stalks and leaves, and wheat stalks, says the company’s founder. Andrew Richard, founder of the London-based company, spoke Tuesday during a demonstration day held … Read More

Lambton leads Ontario colleges in applied research

November 4, 2016 – Paul Morden, The Observer – Lambton College has vaulted to the top spot in Ontario in a ranking of Canada’s research colleges. The Sarnia school is ranked third nationally and first provincially on the latest list of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges, complied by Research Infosource Inc. “I’m not surprised that … Read More

October 31, 2016 – Observer Staff – Lambton Shores is a big winner on the international stage. The municipality took top spot in Communities in Bloom’s (CiB) international challenge in the large category. Lambton Shores received a five blooms silver rating and a special mention in the CiB mystery tour during the 2016 national and … Read More

October 26, 2016 – Tyler Kula, The Observer – The prospect of a new $2-billion petrochemical plant in St. Clair Township had at least a couple of job-seekers scoping out a Nova Chemicals open house in Corunna Wednesday. “It’s just great possibilities. That’s all I’m seeing,” said Corunna millwright John Beauchamp. He was one of … Read More

Sarnia-Lambton, Ontario – October 21, 2016 The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today named the world’s Smart21 Communities of 2017. This select group of communities, which emerged from a group of nearly 400, will now move on and remain in contention for the prestigious designation of an Intelligent Community Top7, to be named in Taipei, Taiwan … Read More

October 18, 2016 – Tyler Kula, The Observer – A new plastics recycling plant is being planned for the former Entropex property in Sarnia. The assets of the recently shuttered recycler of rigid, plastic containers – which turned items like shampoo bottles into new packaging and automotive products – are being purchased by Emmie Leung … Read More

November 7, 2016- Join us for a one-day event to learn more about how your manufacturing business can grow and remain competitive in the global and local marketplace. Hear from experts in panels and keynote talks, then join a roundtable to discuss how to: *   Find and reach new markets through export, marketing, and business strategy *   Implement … Read More