Essex County remains a great place to invest, according to its warden.
The 12th annual Warden's Luncheon, hosted by the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, took place Friday afternoon at the Ciociaro Club in Tecumseh. It was the first luncheon for Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara in his new capacity as county warden. It was attended by representatives from the business community, as well as those in government for most of the county's municipalities and in education.
The gist of McNamara's address was touting the continued growth of Essex County. The warden told reporters that agri-business has been a huge part of it, contributing about $1.4-billion to the local economy.
"A lot of it is because of the expansion of the cannabis industry, Aphria in our region, as well as the growers that grow the most outstanding vegetables anywhere. And you're seeing the expansion of Bonduelle and its processing plant as well," said McNamara, whose municipality is where Bonduelle is located.
McNamara said Essex County has a distinction that many other counties want, to be debt-free.
"The state of the county is in tremendous shape," said McNamara. "We are a debt-free corporation. We are well-poised for the future. Standard and Poor's recognised us as a double-A-plus standard."
In alluding to the predicament of the Chrysler Windsor Assembly plant employees who will be laid off when the third shift is cut in September, McNamara said the county had the employees' backs and that the employees have done plenty to give back.
"As they've been out helping our community continue to grow and prosper, we have to find ways now to support them, and convince our federal and provincial counterparts that it [Essex County] is a great place to invest," said McNamara.
