Objective 2
Attract, Grow and Retain, leveraging our mix of urban and rural assets
Attract
PKED responded to 14 inquiries/leads during Q2.
Of the 14 inquiries, 7 are still active inquiries with varying degrees of interest in the region. It is important to note that business decisions may take months and even years to materialize. 5 of the inquiries were lost as a suitable site was not available to offer.
The types of inquiries and leads have been varied with PKED making pitches to several vertical farming companies, a bio-material company for the plastics industry, healthy soil engineering company as well as an engineering firm specializing in the manufacturing of equipment for the water treatment industry.
PKED staff participated in two trade shows with Ontario East for the food industry: SIAL and the Restaurants Show, in addition to attending the EV conference and summit as well as the Circular Economy Summit.
Retain
In addition to generating and responding to leads, PKED staff meet with existing businesses and identify if they are having any operational challenges in the community. Businesses that have either identified a significant challenge or significant opportunity are met with individually for additional support.
As a highlight in June 2023 PKED/PKT cohosted, with the Culinary Tourism Alliance, “Feast on the Farm – A Taste of Peterborough & the Kawarthas”. This was significant cross-operation event that consisted of two days of featuring local culinary businesses: one day dedicated to more than 120 visitors to the region to sample locally produced goods to grow the tourism and culinary sector, and a second day focused on education and business development that was attended by more than 45 business in the hospitality sector.
Grow
Through our combined community activity PKED was able to support several group events in the second quarter of 2023 including:
- The OFSAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships (occurring early June) – Hosted by KPR & PNVCCD School boards
- 2023 Annual Conference & AGM of the Ontario Professional Foresters Association
- The Ontario Colleges Retirees Association conference
- The Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus regional meeting
- Assisted a local business – who is one of our Authentic Adventures – in their efforts to host a small conference for FEEL practitioners (Facilitated Equine Experiential Learning)
- Supported the recruitment and/or operations of the OHL Annual General Meetings
PKT staff also undertook several activities to support the growth of groups and events in the second quarter.
- Attended the Sport Tourism Canada – Sport Event Congress, – a national event that provides an opportunity to pitch Peterborough & the Kawarthas as host destination for national, provincial, and regional sport events. Met with 11 national sport organizations that present strong prospects for hosting opportunities in 2024-2026
- Launched a new project to have our region represented on the international sport research/event hosting portal through our partnership with Adrenalin/Ignite media