At Work in Simcoe County, Barrie & Orillia: FDI Sector Profiles – Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace, Health Sciences
The County of Simcoe, in partnership with the City of Barrie and City of Orillia, led the development of FDI Sector Profiles and Promotional Videos focused on attracting new foreign direct investment (FDI) and increasing jobs in the Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace and Health Sciences sectors. They highlight the strength of these industry clusters in the region by showcasing current businesses, recent investments, and testimonials. The sector profiles position Simcoe County as leader in the Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace and Health Sciences industry sectors, while building upon existing brands and establishing key messages to be used by all partners. The goal of the profiles is to attract, retain and expand foreign direct investment by highlighting the proven advantages of expanding into and within Simcoe County.
Materials developed include print and interactive (web) profiles and videos to build business cases that will make foreign investors aware of the proven advantages of expanding into and within Simcoe County and Canada. They included strategic information relevant to global site selectors, such as access to markets, research and development capabilities, labour force, strategic location and sector leaders. Due to Covid-19 there were challenges with capturing video interviews which were mitigated by offering interviews outdoors and ensuring proper protocols were met.
The County of Simcoe, Barrie and Orillia have taken a regional approach to the development of these profiles and investment attraction in general. This ensures that as a region, 16 municipalities and two separated cities cooperate on common goals, use consistent key messages pertaining to priority sectors and that investors are welcomed to the area regardless of which municipality they approach first. This allows our regional team to share resources at trade shows and events, reduce duplication and more efficiently apply our various skillsets to promote the region as a whole.
Profiles are shared on websites and social media channels to curate organic interest, while also showcasing them during outbound investment related activities such as trade shows and lead generation projects targeting the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Materials have been distributed to Federal and Provincial trade investment agencies to highlight our value proposition abroad and are used by Ontario-based investment attraction groups such as the Ontario Food Cluster and Ontario Manufacturers Community Alliance which undertake various lead generation activities.
The project contributed in our ability to retain and expand FDI for the benefit of our community as 7 businesses participated in the videos and significant strategic assets, such as the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, were showcased to demonstrate our abilities.
The sector profiles have improved our regions effectiveness in dealing with FDI, especially foreign investment promotion initiatives. The project has led to a demonstrated cooperation between the private sector and municipal governments, enhancing our region’s ability to attract and retain FDI. The initiative was support by the Government of Canada through the CanExport Community Investments program.
The campaign performed well on various social media channels and was well received at trade shows such as Advanced Transportation Manufacturing Summit. As of August 9, 2022 the following metrics were achieved:
Twitter – 1,599 impressions from 11 posts
YouTube – 260 Views
LinkedIn – 3,727 impressions from 6 posts
Website Traffic – 460 page views
Invest in Simcoe County, Barrie, and Orillia – Manufacturing Sector Profile Video: https://youtu.be/5tyh0RX_OWs
Invest in Simcoe County, Barrie, and Orillia – Aerospace Sector Profile Video:
