A 28-year-old bottle of champagne was smashed against a steel beam attached to a large sign promoting fibre optics at the Whitewater Region Industrial Park.
Standing in the back of a pick-up truck to make the smashing a lot easier, Whitewater Region’s entrepreneur development officer Andrew Kenny said, “There are advantages of operating a business in Whitewater Region, whether in the industrial park or Foresters Falls or any other location. I approach businesses that are looking for superior internet service and offer them a chance to gain an advantage over their competition.”
Renfrew County Warden Peter Emon, who was standing beside Mr. Kenny, said he is excited about this new venture.
The Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus took on the project of addressing the limitations of broadband coverage across eastern Ontario, he said.
There are 750,000 people in the 101 municipalities of eastern Ontario, he said. The Eastern Ontario Mayors committee has also been involved, and this involves 12 separated cities and towns with approximately two million people, including the City of Ottawa, he added.
“For us, in eastern Ontario, to be competitive in the world market, provincial and in North America, as well as at home, we needed to have increased broadband,” he said.
The wardens caucus conducted a feasibility study, met with federal and provincial representatives, and formed a constructive partnership, Warden Emon said.
“The three levels of government should work together to make their communities better,” he said. “Businesses will be healthier, more competitive, and be able to deal with things faster by using broadband.”
Daily lives for residents will be easier because they won’t have to travel to do their banking or get health information, Warden Emon said.
He noted there was a $55 million investment by each the provincial and federal governments, a $10 million investment by the Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus and a $62 million investment from the private sector.
“There’s a perfect example of a well-managed, well-constructed, well thought out and quickly and competently reviewed project,” he said, adding, “We’re very proud of it and now we see an industrial park, Whitewater Region, taking advantage of that infrastructure.
“It was a good plan put together five years ago and it was capitalized on.”
He congratulated Whitewater Region council and staff for taking advantage of this natural partnership.
Warden Emon noted it was a $2.2 million investment in industrial parks across eastern Ontario to make sure businesses stand a chance of equal footing with everybody else, across Ontario, North America and the world.
He thanked the township for hosting an event to make this announcement and Jim Pine and Lisa Severson of the Eastern Ontario Region Network (EORN) for attending the event.
“It’s easy for us politicians to come up with these big, big ideas, but somebody has to put it together and bring it in on time, bring it in on budget and they’ve done this.”
He noted EORN undertook an analysis of what’s available on a multi-platform approach, including cell service and personal devices, and provided more flexibility for how businesses and people conduct their daily lives.
While this was a “first great big step,” Warden Emon said there is another large step coming. He encourages people to “put pressure” on their federal and provincial representatives to vote in favour of more money going towards this “well-meaning” project.
Michael Poaps of Cogeco Business Solutions said, “We are proud and excited to be able to offer these services to all the businesses in the surrounding areas.”
There is now “blazing fast internet speed and phone service,” he said. As a matter of fact, the internet speed from Cogeco is 25 to 35 times faster than what’s provided through copper wire, he said.
“We look forward to being able to offer these services to all businesses and improve their efficiencies and productivity through the internet,” Mr. Poaps said.
Whitewater Region Reeve Millar, who was also standing in the back of the truck, said, “On behalf of Whitewater Region, I want to thank everybody involved and our own employee, Andrew, for spearheading and doing a lot of work on this project. It’s a great benefit to our township.”
Mr. Kenny said businesses are able to purchase land in Whitewater Region for substantially less than in other areas, especially around Ottawa. They can also build their businesses with the help of local contractors.
By purchasing land in Whitewater Region, taxes are lower, which will also mean a lower overhead.
“Business owners will have to make the decision: charge the same for products and services as their competition and take the extra profit or charge less, get a lot more business and corner the market,” Mr. Kenny said, adding, “I’d say that’s two pretty good choices to make. The future of business in Whitewater Region is brighter than ever.”
Reeve Millar then took the bottle of champagne, which he provided for the event, and that was tied with a ribbon to the large billboard, and pushed it towards the beam, missing on the first chance.
On the second push, he was able to break the bottle, bringing a loud round of applause from the small group attending the great splash of officially announcing broadband service in the industrial park.
Afterwards, Mr. Kenny said, “The last missing piece to this industrial park has been filled in.”
Many businesses have come forward advising they are interested in the industrial park, especially now that it has broadband, he said.
As for the municipality doing any landscaping to the property, he said the grass may be cut, but that’s about it. If the township were to landscape, it would be another cost factor for the potential business, he explained.
There are 110 acres in the industrial park and 45 acres are being used by seven businesses, Mr. Kenny said, leaving 70 acres for potential businesses.
He noted there are talks with businesses to locate there, but he’s not prepared to announce which businesses, saying it’s up to the business to make the announcement.
As for the older-looking sign that only gives the name of the township and phone number to contact regarding the industrial park, Mr. Kenny said it may not look nice but it’s structurally sound.
While there’s no official use for it, it’s being discussed about allowing local contractors to put small ads on it announcing what they have to offer businesses who wish to purchase land and build upon it.
Warden Emon said this is the first rebranding to use six-month old infrastructure.
“It makes a lot of sense to turn this into a strength,” he said.
Prior to this partnership, businesses and residents were at a disadvantage because they could not access reliable, high speed internet, he said.
Bill Krueger, of Krueger Signs in Cobden, which has been around since 1987, worked with John Deveen of Whitewater Welding and Neil Wright of Wright Construction in Beachburg, to prepare this large billboard.
It took about three months to discuss the idea, come up with the frame and create the billboard, Mr. Krueger said.
He noted the sign is about 22 feet wide and constructed in various sections.
Mr. Kenny wanted a sign that could be moved around, Mr. Krueger said. Steel was really the only option, as it would be easier to move than wood, he said.
Weighing in at about 2.5 tons, he noted there are spindles with wheels on them and a hitch, so the sign can be easily moved with a vehicle.
