Economy Thread

[Simpseatles]

Originally Posted by Highinthesky

The 401 stretch is going to get a little better even without movement from the city. On the north side of the 401 along the east side of Old Victoria Rd the city just finished servicing about 80 acres of land. On top of that they have approached the owner on the west side to purchase their property.

Exactly. I think that the Innovation Industrial Park as it's called will be huge for the city, and at the very least it should have some 401 frontage between the West side of VMP and Old Victoria Road.

Other areas included in the current Urban Growth Boundry that can still be developed along the 401:
-between where the 402 joins and Wellington Rd (could be serviced by Dingman Drive).
-the northeast corner of Highbury and Bradley (this is prime industrial land that is begging to be developed!)
-the southeast corner or VMP and Bradley (there are currently no plans to develop it along with the Innovation Industrial Park)

By simply developing these areas within our current Urban Growth boundry, it would make the city appear larger. Unfortunately the 402 is another matter! It's just in that situation where it's sort of close, but sort of far from the edge of the city, and when driving along it, there is vurtually no evidence of a city being nearby.

[Highinthesky]

London Chamber of Commerce is giving Fontana high marks out of the gate.

http://www.lfpress.com/money/busines.../17092551.html

[ldoto]

The London area economy is forecast to bounce back to 2.8% this year, one of the best rates in the country, says the Conference Board of Canada.

The board's annual forecast on major metropolitan areas shows that auto centres are on the rebound, with Windsor leading the nation next year with a 3.9% increase in GDP and Oshawa at 3.5%.

The report said a rebound in both manufacturing and the service sectors will boost the London-St Thomas area growth rate to 2.8%, up from 2.2% last year and a decline of 4.4% in 2009.

Unemployment is also forecast to fall below 7% this year.

The report said London's manufacturing sector had a strong rebound last year, up 6.7%, after plummeting 15.2% in 2009.

"As world economies improved last year, London's goods sector began to recover as well, with the manufacturing sector posting its first increase in five years."

The sector is expected to grow by 3.4% this year.

The report also forecasts that housing starts in the London area will post a solid gain with 2,300 starts, bucking a national trend.

In the longer term, GDP growth is expected to trend around 3% from 2012-2014 and unemployment will continue to fall gradually. :

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by ldoto

The London area economy is forecast to bounce back to 2.8% this year, one of the best rates in the country, says the Conference Board of Canada.

The London "Area" economy? I find this hard to believe. The Ford plant closes for good later this year and St. Thomas is still stalling.

The city? Maybe. The London Area? I'll believe it when I see it.

[Kokkei Mizu]

Originally Posted by haljackey

The London "Area" economy? I find this hard to believe. The Ford plant closes for good later this year and St. Thomas is still stalling.

The city? Maybe. The London Area? I'll believe it when I see it.

But maybe somebody will buy the Ford Plant, retool it, and hire 3,000 employees. Here's to hoping

[Highinthesky]

It's a forcast not a set in stone prediction of what is to come.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Kokkei Mizu

But maybe somebody will buy the Ford Plant, retool it, and hire 3,000 employees. Here's to hoping

I wouldn't be holding my breath. I can see the land being used for some other industrial purpose, but not something as massive as a full Ford plant. Some of the land could very well end up going back to agriculture.

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by Kokkei Mizu

But maybe somebody will buy the Ford Plant, retool it, and hire 3,000 employees. Here's to hoping

Forget about the Ford plant, I hope there's someone to buy out the Electro-Motive plant when Caterpillar inevitably ditches it.

[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by Wharn

Forget about the Ford plant, I hope there's someone to buy out the Electro-Motive plant when Caterpillar inevitably ditches it.

Ya really, hopefully that does not happen somehow but it seems pretty likely.

We sell quite a big to Electromotive at my work so that would be a double hit for the city and me.

[ldoto]

London Mayor Joe Fontana is predicting a massive infusion of cash for our downtown, helping to fulfill one of the priorities coming from the mayor's economic council.
In fact, Fontana is looking to leverage hundreds of millions of dollars for the downtown.

Economic council to make recommendations in April .


http://www.atv.ca/london/news_75549.aspx
(SEE VIDEO)

[ldoto]

Is London set to land a "significant" development at the 401-Wellington Rd. interchange? Joe Fontana suggests as much.

The mayor told reporters Wednesday a company called PenEquity Realty Corp. is "moving through the process" to finalize a "significant development plan" where the highway meets that major east-west road.

There are few details. Attempts to contact Penn Equity have been unsuccessful.

But Fontana, who has pushed the development of lands along the 401 as a key piece of his vision for London's economic development, is optimistic about the possibilities.

"It is going to be an incredible signature piece," he said. "This is going to be a significant development on our (401) corridor."

According to PenEquity's website, the Toronto-based firm appears to specialize in big-box developments, several of which house such businesses as Boston Pizza and AMC Theatres.

[ldoto]

Booming voice-over firm hears core’s call

A growing technology company that matches businesses with voice actors is moving to downtown London.

Voices.com, housed until now at the University of Western Ontario's Research Park, a hotbed for startup companies, has leased space on Dufferin Ave.

With the move, in a booming business, it will triple its space and double its staff within one year, said David Ciccarelli, chief executive.

"We are very excited," he said Tuesday. "We recently hired a financial manager and one thing hindering our growth is floor space . . . our top-line revenue has been increasing."

The five-year-old business has outgrown its 2,000-sq.-ft space, since it now has more than 200,000 clients and voice actors.

Voices.com is an online marketplace using a web-based application that matches businesses with voice actors for everything from commercial work to games.

"It is great for the city, it is great for the research park. It is a good example of a company that started with a single entrepreneur and has became one of the fastest-growing businesses in Canada," said Joel Adams, director of the research park which has helped incubate and grow Voices.com.

"This is champagne-popping news. They are a very sophisticated company, and they have a very cool concept."

Voices.com's departure from the park will leave room for another small business to start up and grow, said Adams.

"I love seeing David every day, but I cannot wait to see the next business here. We have a waiting list."

For Voices.com, the move feels a little like "moving out of mom and dad's house," said Ciccarelli.

"We want to have a space to call our own and be close to amenities, to collaborate with other businesses. We never considered anywhere else. Downtown has the right feel for what we do," he said.

Voices.com is leaving behind about 2,000 sq. ft. of space to move to 150 Dufferin Ave., at Richmond St., where it will lease about 6,000 sq. ft.

"We are pretty tight where we are and we are planning on hiring more," said Ciccarelli.

Voices will be up to 24 staff in the fall and more than 30 in about one year: "We have all kinds of projects on the go. We can barely keep up with the number of people registering with us - that is, clients and buyers."

The company also has future growth projects it hasn't been able to go after due to lack of space and staff.

E-mail norman.debono@sunmedia.ca, or follow Normatlfpress on Twitter.

--- --- ---

VOICES.COM

Founded five years ago, it matches businesses or agencies with voice actors for commercials and games.


It has 200,000 clients: 130,000 businesses and 70,000 actors.


Will triple its space to 6,000 sq. ft.


Will double staff to more than 30 from 16.

[ldoto]

London's core increasingly becomes a focus for politicians, a planner with extensive experience studying North American downtowns is still settling in at city hall.

Jim Yanchula arrived in London near the end of the last council term, bringing years of downtown knowledge that will no doubt prove useful as the city redoubles efforts to revitalize the core.

"There's no great metropolitan area that doesn't have a great downtown," Yanchula said Thursday, one day after addressing the city's well-attended downtown summit.

"One of the things that attracted me to London was that I felt people get it - they understand great metropolitan areas have great downtowns."

Yanchula, London's manager of community planning and urban design, came here from the City of Windsor.

He's a longtime member of the Washington, D.C.-based International Downtown Association, where he's helped judge the quality of downtowns worldwide.

Though London never entered its contests, Yanchula says the success of its Millennium Project - spawning the John Labatt Centre, Covent Garden Market and other sites - deserved wider recognition.

Mayor Joe Fontana is spearheading a renewed effort to revitalize downtown, largely based on his plan to build a new city hall and use the massive project to attract other private-sector investments.

Wednesday's downtown summit drew more than 250 Londoners, who were asked to answer three questions focused on the possible construction of a new city hall. Their answers will eventually be compiled in a report to council.

Not everyone is convinced that's the best idea, or that a new city hall is even necessary.

But whatever the direction, Yanchula says based on his experience London has a strong chance to build on its previous downtown successes.

"People would give their eye-teeth in medium-sized North American communities to have building like that Tricar tower across from the JLC," he said as an example, adding Londoners show "high interest and high evidence of interest" in the core.

Asked for a comparison to London's downtown potential, he pointed to Asheville, North Carolina - a medium-sized city and regional centre that has similarly strong natural amenities and heritage buildings.

[MolsonExport]

^ever been to Minneapolis, or Tampa, or Houston, or Atlanta, or Phoenix? These have appallingly shitty (rather, extremely boring roll up the sidewalks at 5pm)downtowns.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

^ever been to Minneapolis, or Tampa, or Houston, or Atlanta, or Phoenix? These have appallingly shitty (rather, extremely boring roll up the sidewalks at 5pm)downtowns.

These are what you call 9-5 downtowns. People go there to work, grab a coffee and some lunch, shop a little on their breaks, and that's pretty much it. One giant office park.

Making downtowns 24/7 and a place to live, work and shop is what London's striving to do, and I think we're making decent headway.

[Simpseatles]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Making downtowns 24/7 and a place to live, work and shop is what London's striving to do, and I think we're making decent headway.

Definitely! I mean, just look at all the residential towers built downtown in the last 10 years. City Place, 180 Mill, Wellington Park, Renaissance and now the second tower, along with the Old East development. Most of them 'aint easy on the eyes, but they have brought more residents downtown.

[Kokkei Mizu]

So Diamond Aircraft got denied the $35 million from the feds! People better start writing their MPs...

Diamond Aircraft has had its request for a $35-million loan denied by the newly-elected federal Conservatives, a potentially devastating turn of events for the London airplane maker.

In a statement, Industry Minister Tony Clement says he informed Diamond Tuesday of the decision.

"Canadian taxpayers entrust the government to make responsible and judicious decisions with their dollars. The company was advised today that the Government of Canada will not support its request for additional loans."

Diamond had sought a $35-million federal loan to help launch its production of a new jet.

The company has laid off more than 200 workers pending the request's resolution.

The government's handling of the request became a hot topic during the federal campaign, including much criticism from London Mayor Joe Fontana.

With Fontana out of the city Tuesday, Bud Polhill is serving as acting mayor — and he says the loan denial could be “devastating” for London’s high-tech sector.

Full story and more: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2.../18155086.html

[MolsonExport]

This is terrible news. Goddamn Harper and his party of Cons. yet again shortchanging the forest city.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Umm, don't blame the government for not giving Diamond money. Diamond doesn't have a right to our tax money. There is good reason they didn't get money. I have done business with Diamond before and let's just say - I had a hard time getting payment from them. Why don't they borrow the money from their billionaire owner instead of our government?

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

Umm, don't blame the government for not giving Diamond money. Diamond doesn't have a right to our tax money. There is good reason they didn't get money. I have done business with Diamond before and let's just say - I had a hard time getting payment from them. Why don't they borrow the money from their billionaire owner instead of our government?

Interesting. And based on that, I doubt the result would have been any different if the election results were different.