Cornwall economy still going strong through pandemic – Standard Freeholder

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An update presented to Cornwall city council on Monday, has shown that despite some hiccups along the way, the local state of economic development has remained for the most part, positive.

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In an optimistic report penned by the economic development department, division manager Bob Peters said the local economy is continuing to rebound from the effects of the pandemic. The six-month update also spoke of the continuing need for new staff members within a variety of workforces.

“Leclerc and Olymel held separate job fairs in August, looking to hire over 100 additional people,” reads the report. “Cornwall’s largest employer, Walmart Logistics, continues to recruit for multiple positions and is making ongoing physical improvements to its facilities. SigmaPoint, Lallemand, Ridgewood, Morbern and other employers are also maintaining high production levels and are very active in recruiting.”

Local demand for retail cannabis has also remained high. Groove Cannabis has opened its doors at the Eastcourt Mall, while work is progressing on the High Ties store in Le Village and the Tokyo Smoke store at the Choice Properties Plaza at Ninth and Pitt streets.

Despite the growth seen locally, landlords are still finding it difficult to fill vacant commercial and office spaces. According to the report, demand for large-scale office spaces has sharply declined and isn’t expected to improve in the short-term.

The department also expects demand for retail space will continue to be weak over the short-term period, with quick-service restaurants and small specialty retail outlets being the exemption.

A new initiative will also see a portion of the Cornwall Business Park being developed. Peters confirmed that Titanium Transport — which recently purchased International Truckload Services (ITS) — will take over the spot ITS had intended to develop and plans on constructing a much larger building.

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“In order to accommodate that development, they looked at adjoining parts of land, which was sold a couple years ago to Turtle Island Corp.,” said Peters. “They acquired more land so that they will have a bigger development and to facilitate that, we have agreed to sell 7.5 acres to Turtle Island Corp., subject to the agreement being duly executed.”

In essence, Turtle Island will be moving down the road so that Titanium can build. That will ensure the corporation continues to be a future investor in the park. According to Peters, it’s a win-win situation for the city.

“As in any transaction, there are clauses in favour of both parties to ensure that due diligence is met,” he said. “Until the sell closes, it’s not a done deal. The good news is that with the conclusion, we will see new development in the business park and at a greater scale than we were expecting under the original plans that ITS had.

“It’s very nice to see that Titanium is showing that much confidence in the Cornwall economy and wants to play a bigger role in being a member of our business park.”

fracine@postmedia.com

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