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Deborah Jones, Christmas Biz MiXer, Windsor Essex, 20 Year Businesses, Helping The Community . . .Past, Present & Future, If You Promote It, They Will Come, It’s A Small Business World, After All!, Yahoo! Windsor Essex Makes Top 10 List, 200 Issues Of Biz X magazine
04
Jan

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and had a chance to re-energize for another year in business. We all want to make our Windsor Essex area prosperous again, but what needs to be done?

Many write to me confidentially to express their concerns about all the problems we here in Windsor Essex are facing. One email in particular stated, “We have the highest unemployment, sky high utility costs and taxes and nothing in any industry is looking at locating here.”

So, since this is the start of a brand new year, it is the best time to analyze the past and see what lies ahead in the future. I thought it would be best now to share with you some highlights of the most wide-reaching provincial economic forecast of the year, the “Ontario Economic Update 2016,” released in mid-December by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Credit Unions of Ontario, with support from the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce. (see the entire report here: WindsorEssexChamber.
org/in_the_news/media-releases/).

• Employment in the Windsor Essex region is expected to grow by 1.7 percent in 2016 and 1.2 percent in 2017 while the unemployment rate will decline to 9.1 percent by the end of that time frame, down from a projected 9.8 percent in 2015.

• The manufacturing industry will help drive economic growth, as companies continue to invest in production capacity. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, for example, is spending $2 billion re-tooling its Windsor plant. Auto parts company TRW Automotive will open a second location in Windsor in January 2016. Additionally, there have been a number of job fairs held locally to fill key manufacturing jobs. This includes companies such as Hiram Walker & Sons, Radix Inc. and Integram.

• According to the province-wide data, most areas of Ontario will enjoy improving economic conditions in the coming year. Growth will be driven in part by an uptick in exports, the result of a stronger U.S. economy and a low Canadian dollar. Government fiscal policy will also be a key driver, as federal and provincial infrastructure commitments will stimulate growth across a variety of sectors.

 Deborah Jones’ column Continues…

Deborah Jones

Deborah Jones – Publisher of Biz X Magazine Deborah Jones graduated from the University of Windsor with an Honours Degree in Communication Studies and was employed at two other local magazines shortly after for a few years learning all she could about writing, advertising, public relations and more. She made the jump in 1998 to go out on her own to publish Biz X magazine and has worked in the publishing industry since 1990. In 2007, she earned the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from the Windsor & District Chamber of Commerce. To date, she is the ONLY woman so far to receive this award. In 2013, she received one of the first “Windsor Women of the Year” awards from the Ladies Exclusive Alliance. Her most recent achievement is the 2023 Media Award from the Windsor Essex Chapter of the Kidney Foundation of Canada. Deborah is proud to live in Windsor and truly cares about each and every business and strives to make Windsor Essex the best place to live, work and play.