Economic Renewal: Arts Meets High-Tech in the New Stratford

“We have decided that technology really is the way for the economy to go forward … We don’t want to become like every other community that has a long strip of stores followed by a downtown that is somewhat vacant because it’s just not our brand.”

That’s Dan Mathieson, Mayor of Stratford, commenting in the Toronto Star about the town’s ambitious strategy to diversify it’s well-known and thriving arts community with a high tech hub based on public-private partnerships and key infrastructure investments. (See full article reprint below.)

I must admit I was a bit envious reading about this in Saturday’s Star.  That emotion quickly turned to excitement as I realized that this kind of reinvention IS possible in a community that takes it upon itself to do it. This is Positive Leadership personified.

You see, in my Platform component STIMULATE: Economic Development,  I used this industrial strategy as one example of what King and specifically our Schomberg area can do to diversify our economies.

Schomberg has the single largest concentration of undeveloped ZONED industrial land in King. Yet from my research, only sporadic market forces are determining its current fate.

Is a high-tech hub the right strategy?  Maybe.  What about the focused approach of Stratford to its economic dilemma? Absolutely.

King has no discernible industrial strategy or plan that I can find.

And it’s about time we developed one.

To fund our burgeoning debt load and our continued desire for high quality public services with our modest populous, we need to diversify our local economy away from residential housing development.  It’s well known that residential growth actually costs us more money long-term than we actually receive back in tax revenues.

And it’s ridiculous in my opinion to be developing new serviced industrial tracks of land that require substantial infrastructure investment where we have serviced or serviceable lands already (I’m referring to last year’s Council discussion about developing the currently unserviced and non-industrial zoned Hwy. 400 corridor around King Road).

Focusing on Schomberg’s currently undeveloped but serviceable industrial lands is perhaps the greatest untapped opportunity for King and Ward 4. Our recent investments in upgraded water supply and waste water treatment facilities; the new Schomberg Arena and Curling Facility; plus our housing infrastructure and vibrant arts community, make this an attractive business case just waiting to be written.

Nay-sayers may say that Stratford is a much larger community, necessary for such a plan; that Schomberg is too small to have the requisite critical mass to support a high-tech or other industrial hub; that the University of Waterloo is a critical component of the Town’s overall plan, and we lack such an institution here.  I challenge this on all fronts:

• Small is beautiful – we can focus where larger centres can’t.
• We can attract a skilled workforce to our lovely small-town, clean green and culture-rich atmosphere.
• King already has a positive relationship with Seneca Collage (via our King Campus) and we are close to York University’s main campus and arguably of interest to the University of Toronto.

What will realizing a new long-term, industrial strategy for King and Ward 4 take?

• A unified, visionary and transparent Council.
• A desire for positive leadership and change among your representatives.
• An ability to reach out and negotiate significant public and private partners to fund and make it work.

I promise to work with Council and Staff to create and implement such a vision for King.

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Below is the Toronto Star article from Saturday, June 19th, 2010, in its entirety:

ECONOMIC RENEWAL:  ARTS MEETS HIGH-TECH IN THE NEW STRATFORD

Emily Mathieu
Business Reporter
STRATFORD – The defining moment in Stratford’s economic and cultural history can be traced back to one man, $125 in cash, a ticket to New York City and the idea to bring renowned theatre actors to perform in a white tent on the shores of the Avon River.

Almost six decades later the somewhat sleepy town of about 32,000 welcomes more than half a million theatre-loving tourists every year.

Now, the city’s mayor is betting that the next transformative economic wave will be generated through the vision of a group of tech-savvy men and women and a multi-million dollar investment.

“We have decided that technology really is the way for the economy to go forward,” said Dan Mathieson, of an ambitious plan to bring new residents and businesses to Stratford.

“We don’t want to become like every other community that has a long strip of stores followed by a downtown that is somewhat vacant because it’s just not our brand.”

Outside the southern Ontario town, putting “Stratford” and “technology” in the same sentence is guaranteed to garner a blank look or inquisitive comment.

As part of its plan to change that, the city is adding a satellite campus for the University of Waterloo and has rigged the city for Wi-Fi. It has also fitted a 60-acre section of land with services that will match the needs of upstart technology companies, including fibre optic cables, and spent more than $65 million upgrading storm sewers and sanitary systems.

The grounds where the main school will be located, to be known as the University of Waterloo – Stratford Campus, will not be broken until fall and is scheduled for completion in 2012.

But in September the school’s first location, a converted boutique hotel across from City Hall, will host about 20 students enrolled in Waterloo’s Master of Business Entrepreneurship and Technology program. Known as the Stratford Institute, it will remain open after the primary site is completed.

The main campus will be on the site of the city’s former rail lines. There will also be a residence, conference centre and research facility. Estimated enrollment in five years is more than 500 students, in masters and undergraduate programs.

The city is putting up $10 million, as well as $4.5 million for the land. The province is paying $10 million and Ottawa is contributing $5.35 million. A final $10 million comes from Waterloo-based software company Open Text Corp.

It is a significant investment and the city is counting on a hefty return, its confidence reinforced by one great historical example of the power of a leap of faith and financial investment.

It was a Stratford journalist named Tom Patterson who pitched the idea to city council to bring New York actors to Stratford in 1952. He had originally asked for $100; the mayor insisted he take $125.

The first production was Richard III, which premiered on July 13, 1953, with Alec Guinness in the title role. In its 57th season the festival produces 3,000 direct and indirect jobs, pumps out $135 million in economic output, and results in $70 million in tax dollars for all levels of government, according to Mathieson.

The university alone will result in an annual economic impact of $42.9 million, based on a 2008 study commissioned by the city.

While tourism will continue to be a huge contributor to the local economy and culture is an essential component of the city’s brand, Mathieson said they need a multi-pronged approach that includes supporting manufacturing, aerospace and agriculture.

Perth County agriculture produces revenue of $1.5 to $2 million a day, said Mathieson. The countryside is thick with pork and cattle farms and crops including soybeans and winter wheat.

“We have to be grounded in three or four camps really to survive as a community,” he said.

Outside the theatre, tapping into Stratford’s tourist market is hit or miss. In June, at least five empty stores in the downtown were advertised for lease or sale. Mathieson said stores move in before peak season, enjoy heavy sales but can’t weather the slower winter market.

If the school and anticipated influx of new industry brings in younger people, he said he expects stores and restaurants will adapt to the needs of the new market. “You can only sell so many busts of William Shakespeare.”

There are signs that corporate investors are interested.

The Royal Bank of Canada recently broke ground on what the Stratford City Gazette reported will be a 396,000-square-foot data centre in the south end of the city.

There is also an established technology community ready to leverage the Stratford brand.

Bob Telfer, director of Conceptual Pathways, an Internet strategy and software development company, said in addition to the low overhead costs he enjoys in Stratford the location is something of a calling card that sets his business apart.

“There is an interesting convergence happening in Stratford with arts, the local culinary movements and of course the digital media side that is really taking off now,” said Telfer.

Conceptual Pathways operates in a converted warehouse occupied by local artists and performers. Workers and computers are shielded from the ever-present mould and dust by a wall of transparent plastic.

Telfer, 35, is a member of the Avonova group, a networking group created to support Stratford’s tech companies.

The group’s co-founder is Mary Reinhart, president of Virtual Connections, a senior management consulting firm with a technology focus. The ages of the group range from mid-20s to 60s, she said.

Reinhart, 58, said the virtue of a smaller community is that like-minded people seek each other out. “There is a greater understanding and more awareness and you can collect your partners accordingly,” she said.

The theatre alone can’t sustain the city, but the Stratford brand is a powerful marketing tool, said Reinhart. “What we are doing is capitalizing on that branding and moving on to the next step.”

It will be difficult to convince young people to move away from the “thick” job market in big cities, said Kevin M. Stolarick, research director of The Martin Prosperity Institute with the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management.

On top of urban amenities and entertainment being exposed to large numbers of creative people means higher productivity as well as higher pay. Online connections cannot make up for that face to face interaction, said Stolarick.

“We know that the bigger the city the more innovative it is and you get this added bonus or added return,” he said.

Paul West is business development manager Rhyzome Networks , a private company owned by the city that rigged the downtown for Wi-Fi.

The company ran a 60-kilometre data transmission grid of optical fibre that transmits information to 32 access points at about 1 gigabit of speed, which is then “throttled” at the access points then broadcast at 300 megabits. The combined systems, some of the fastest of their kind, result in “screaming fast” connections, said West.

Residents and visitors can gain free access to a page with information on city hall and the library as well as a place to buy tickets and read restaurant reviews.