Wayne Gretzky once said, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
Seems like a simple strategy, but it really isn’t. It requires the right balance of knowledge, skill and attitude to recognize a pattern, then the courage to take the right action at the right time.
So where is the puck going in Niagara?
There are clear signs that aerospace manufacturing has taken root in the region. National leaders like Fleet Canada Inc. and Airbus Helicopter Canada have made strategic investments in Niagara that reveal their confidence in their people.
Homegrown companies like start-up Northern Drones, or experienced innovators like Accipiter and Aero-Safe Technologies are demonstrating we can create aerospace jobs in Niagara. It also appears Fort Erie has become a hub for this sector.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see Fort Erie lead the diversification of Niagara’s manufacturing sector?
The desire to take action to retain the young talent that exists in Niagara is a priority of regional council and it appears others are joining their call.
Brock University BioLinc co-ordinator Cassie Price and Niagara College ncTakeOff project manager Rachel Crane teamed up this past November to host the first Niagara Young Entrepreneur Kick-Off Weekend. This successful event gave local young entrepreneurs the opportunity to network and then create, plan and pitch their business start-up ideas.
We must help those who are helping these and other millennials become our future employers.
Niagara’s health-care providers, post-secondary institutions and economic development agencies believe collaboration can lead to economic spinoffs for our region. The Brock News reported “entrepreneurs and policymakers take advantage of readily available or emerging technologies, work in collaboration with healthcare facilities, and engage the community to embrace the potential; it could result in huge opportunities for Niagara to be a provincial and global leader in healthcare initiatives.”
Niagara College’s Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre, currently under construction, could be the missing piece to our region’s genuine entry into the medical device manufacturing sector.
The movement of goods is critical to the vitality of a community, and Niagara possesses the Welland Canal, one of the finest and most unappreciated infrastructure assets in the country.
Due to co-operation of five municipalities and the Region, Niagara now has a tax grant incentive (Gateway CIP) businesses can access if they build facilities and create jobs in key areas around the canal.
Vance Badawey, recently elected MP for Niagara Centre (and former mayor of Port Colborne) stated leveraging Canada’s canal corridor is a top priority for him in Ottawa. We now have a seasoned leader ready to champion this national strategic resource and leverage its local untapped potential.
As these initiatives begin to get more attention, there will be some among us who will doubt the potential that exists for success in one or more of these areas.
Consider this: since 2006, Welland Minor Hockey has produced Cal Clutterbuck (New York Islanders), Daniel Girardi (New York Rangers), Matt Ellis (Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans), Paul Bissonnette (Phoenix Coyotes and currently with Los Angeles Kings AHL affiliate), Jamie Tardif (Boston Bruins) and Dan Paille (Stanley Cup winner with the Boston Bruins, who last week signed a deal with the New York Rangers).
As Welland Tribune sports editor Bernd Franke helped me understand, “players in the AHL are one phone call away from going to — or returning to — the NHL.”
The chances of going from minor hockey to a steady National Hockey League career are roughly one in 4,000, according to a study completed by Jim Parcels, a 13-year veteran of Ontario minor and junior hockey.
These young athletes, with the help of their parents, coaches, teammates, trainers, sport medicine practitioners, arena staff and minor hockey personnel, beat the odds.
Niagara can also beat the odds if it works collaboratively to tap into the potential that exists in our local businesses, not-for-profit organizations, educational systems and art/cultural associations.
Gretzky believed “you miss 100 per cent of the shots you never take.”
Niagara, you know where the puck is going. It’s our time to take the shot.
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Damian Goulbourne was mayor of Welland from 2003 to 2010 and has been a Niagara College faculty member in the Business, Hospitality & Environmental division since 1999.
