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http://www.saultstar.com/2016/07/26/edc-targets-aviation-national-defense-sectors

Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. logo.

The Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. is embarking on two different business plan studies designed to grow the aviation economy and the national defense sector.

The EDC has received $70,000 from the federal government's Invest Canada-Community Initiatives program to conduct the business case plans, said CEO Tom Dodds.

“When working to attract companies and investment, you need a solid business case to make a solid argument to the prospective firm,” he said. “We're now looking to engage with a professional service provider to undertake a business case related to the aviation sector.”

The findings will be used to pursue companies with the objective of attracting business and foreign direct investments to Sault Ste. Marie.

Sault MP Terry Sheehan said the government program is designed to help economic growth and diversification in Northern Ontario.

Sault Ste. Marie was one of 87 approved project applications across the country, sharing $3.78 million in funding.

John Febbraro, director of business development for the EDC, said the EDC attends the National Business Aviation and Aircraft Program annually.

Discussions at last year's conference resulted in strong indications that Sault Ste. Marie might be able to attract an aviation painting company to the Sault Ste. Marie airport and service aircrafts.

Terry Bos, CEO and president of the Sault Ste. Marie Airport said the business case will focus on luring a paint company to the Sault that would help create on “one stop shop” or Centre of Excellence where aircrafts can receive maintenance and upgrades at JD Aero and be painted locally.

“Our idea is to attract more aircrafts to Sault Ste. Marie for servicing and we think there's a market here with JD Aero and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Sault College hangers,” he said.

Bos said the idea first surfaced when the airport completed its own business plan and the concept was viewed as an area of potential growth.

“We've been working with the EDC for about a year now on the idea and it's one of our key strategic items that came out of our plan,” he said. “It's a perfect fit with what we already have.”

Bos said numbers of aircrafts coming in for servicing at JD Aero are already good and add that to potential business from the MNR or Sault College and preliminary numbers indicate traffic is already “close” to what it needs to be to attract a painting company.

The National Business Aviation and Aircraft conference attracts industry providers from around the globe, Febbraro said.

Queries were made with several painting companies who had displays at the show and there appeared to be a strong interest, Febbraro said.

“They told us they wanted to see a business case and that's our next step. When we attend this year, we will present our findings to potential companies interested in setting up in other parts of North America and see if we can make it work,” he said.

JD Aero already services large clients like Porter, West Jet/Encore and Horizon as well as others including Nav Canada.

A Request for Proposal process has been launched and it's expected the business plan will be completed in about three months.

Meanwhile, a second initiative will see a separate business case completed related to the national defense sector.

The EDC has been working with area engineering, manufacturing and fabricating companies to help them get their “Controlled Goods” status.

The certificate is required to sell to major defense contractors.

Febbraro said Northern Ontario has been designated an area with defense activity and as such, several businesses have completed their certificate requirements to have “Controlled Goods” status.

“Billions of dollars will be spent on defense in the next 10 to 20 years and that work needs to be done in Canada and if we have companies that can provide the service, we want to see them certified,” he said.

Local industry experts heard a presentation from government officials about the future defense needs and about a half dozen have moved forward on securing the necessary security certificate in order to capitalize on the potential long-term investment, he said.

The business case will aim to show that Sault Ste. Marie has the ability to conduct the work needed for various defense activities and products.

Sault Ste. Marie's advantage is that Essar Steel Algoma is the only steel company that manufactures armoured plate, he said.

Febbraro said that FedNor is working with the five large urban centres in Northern Ontario to put together a business case that highlights the strengths that can be found in each community.

“We want to be prepared to show all the expertise we can provide from Sault Ste. Marie and dangle that carrot,” he said.

The EDC views the establishment of the business plans as another way to help local businesses and industries diversify and grow the local economy.

“The successful attraction of other investments to the community will minimize the risk of local companies being fully dependent on one or two large organizations. In addition, these business cases will identify markets to be targeted for attracting investment and form the basis for activities to further attract new investments,” he said.