The Greater Cornwall region is in the midst of a growth spurt and many of us fail to realize it. Far too often we, through media eyes, see raw stats and glaring headlines determine that our fate is more gloom and doom than growth and prosperity. Face it, sensationalism and despair sell better than success and hope. That has often been our story until late 1996. We are growing and are seeing more and more success stories. The marketing seeds sown by Cornwall Economic Development through the early 90's, the economic renewal efforts of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce over the past two years and the emergence of Team Cornwall with its almost 150 business ambassadors have in part led the way. Couple those efforts with expansions, both physical and technological, by many existing Cornwall and area businesses and industries and it's hard to miss the fact that we are growing.

At long last, the headlines no longer read "Cornwall Loses More Jobs." More often than not, we now see "New Industry Locates or Expands in Cornwall." As I write this essay there are no less than seven Cornwall industries which have recently located here, completed or are currently undergoing plant expansions. Take a drive through area industrial parks and you'll see physical expansions at: Lilly, All-Teck, Beavers Dental, Meridian, NuMED Canada. Major capital equipment investments have been made or announced for Domtar and OS Plastics while new contracts have been secured by United Tri-Tech and others. New industries to the area since late 1996 are: Matraplast, Satisfied Brake, and Affinity Dye and International Trading.

Not only has the industrial sector shown vital signs of growth, but both the service and retail domains have seen their share of growth as well. Cornwall is now home to a new Canadian Tire Store, Union Gas retail store and offices, an Irving Oil service centre, Business Depot, Play It Again Sports, and Cornwall Camping Centre to name a few. Retail and mall expansions have been announced or are under way at the Eastcourt Mall, Maynard's YIG, Jean Coutu and St. Hubert. Most of the local hotels and motels have undergone expansions or renovations over the past few years, the largest of which is the approximately $1,000,000 renovation and expansion at the Best Western Parkway Inn and Convention Centre. Drive up McConnell Avenue and you'll see the automotive industry has not been left out. Cornwall Truck Maintenance Inc. has a new home at Tollgate Road and construction has started for the new Cornwall Truck Centre building, the International Truck dealership. Not to be out done, both Benson's Springs and McConnell Tire have expanded and opened new stores.

Often we hear ourselves moan that Cornwall has stayed the same size as it was years ago. Reality is that we're simultaneously right and wrong. In fact the overall number of private dwellings have increased from 18,360 in 1991 to 19,212 in 1996 and while the city's residential population has only seen slight increases of 0.5% or so each year, the populations of Cornwall and Charlottenburgh Townships are estimated to have grown by more than 10% over the past few years. The population of Cornwall and the Townships is some 67,000 people. Think about it, we and others often judge a municipality or regions success by the growth in population as told by the Highway 401 population signs. For years I have been asking members of various area Councils and administrations to get together and recognize "Cornwall and the Townships" as a region not for political reasons, but only to prove to the rest of the country that we are a growing, dynamic economy worthy of their consideration. This and this alone would tell the world that Greater Cornwall is a growth region. More people would look at us, if they too, realized Cornwall was growing. If all we did was use this vehicle to confirm our region's growth, we like Kingston and the Townships would be perceived as moving forward.

Interestingly enough, we ARE perceived as growing when it comes to the Internet. Led by the impressive city web site, more and more area businesses are using this new medium to promote both their own activities as well as the city. In Cyberspace, at least, we often have a larger presence than our numbers would suggest.

Historically, Cornwall's unemployment rate has been higher than the national average. For most of the past ten years or so, local employment figures showed Cornwall to be almost double that of the rest of the Country. This trend however, is changing. Early in 1997, Council was given a report which showed employment rate had dropped to 17%, a decrease of some 20% over the past 2 years. In February this year, Statistics Canada reported a further drop to 10.2%, a whopping decline of almost 50% in only one year. While this rate is still unacceptable and I don't mean to make little of the unemployed, the figures clearly show that more people are working today than were employed throughout the past decade. Further evidence of this is given with reports from a local employment center which for the first time, indicate that they are having trouble finding qualified candidates for semi-skilled and skilled jobs. Yes, we still have a long way to go, but again it's time to tell the world that we are growing. Truly, the employment stats more than any other give credence to the fact that we are slowly but surely catching up with some of Ontario's most prosperous communities.

I challenge any of you to find another region in the country where you can enjoy the cosmopolitan benefits of the large centres of Montreal and Ottawa, world class international skiing, the peaceful tranquility of the rolling countryside in Glengarry, the farms and villages of Stormont County and the thousands of acres of parks, the miles of St. Lawrence River shoreline, all adding value to some of the most affordable real estate in Canada.

Finally, it's time to crow about some of our recent municipal and senior government infrastructure improvements. Cornwall has just completed a state of the art Public Library which would be the envy of many communities twice our size. Construction is well underway on the long awaited Provincial building which will breathe new life into the downtown core. The Eco Gardens at Lamoureux Park will show their first blooms next spring. 1998 should see the City complete a deal with Courtaulds and, with the help of the Knights of Columbus and other partners, create an active Super Park from the mid-city industrial site. By the time this essay is published Cornwall Electric will have been sold to Consumers Gas. Cornwall will be debt free and City coffers will be bursting with some $28,000,000.00 in cash. These physical improvements and the enviable fiscal shape of the City point to a responsible and stable municipality.

Add it all up and Cornwall has much more going for it than many other North American cities. Any industry looking to relocate or expand would be hard pressed to ignore the opportunities the Greater Cornwall region has to offer. But once again, we do have to let the world know what's in store for them should they decide to invest in Cornwall. With a new millennium peeking around the corner, Cornwall, long touted as "The City of Opportunity", may finally be getting the chance to prove itself.

Terry Landon is Vice President and the Broker of Record of RE/MAX Cornwall Realty Inc., Real Estate Brokerage, a founding Director of the Real Estate Council of Ontario, Past President of the Cornwall and District Real Estate Board and a proud member of Team Cornwall.

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