rooms, in addition to numerous large cor-
porate greenhouses and manufacturing
companies, help stabilize this backbone by
hiring locals.
“It’s not about going after large invest-
ments. For us, our stability and growth is
going to come from what’s already here,”
Lassaline-Berglund said, stating that rough-
ly 70 per cent of the community’s growth
will come from successful businesses that
are already established in Leamington.
Even though Leamington is home to large
corporate entities, it houses many com-
munity-minded entrepreneurs, which is
why Leamington is an ideal place to start a
business. Leamington’s business owners
are very much available to the community,
whether it be to offer feedback to startups
or assess the feasibility of a new business.
It also helps that property prices, whether
it be commercial, industrial or residential,
are quite inexpensive compared to city lo-
cations.
Up until now, the municipality has let tour-
ism take its own course and visitors came
voluntarily, drawn by the area’s beauty. The
national park, for instance, draws 240,000
visitors per year. Referred to as the Sun
Parlour of Canada, the municipality enjoys
year-round ecotourism. “People who are
interested in ecotourism or in an active life-
style can really be out-
side a great portion of
the year,” Lassaline-
Berglund said.
Like many towns in
Ontario,
Leaming-
ton looked to region-
al partners to mar-
ket the municipality.
There was no specific
person or entity driv-
ing the tourism indus-
try to its full potential, but this is where
the municipality is now going to be playing
a big role. Mayor Paterson and his team
are working on making Leamington a year-
“It’s easy being mayor because everything is going in the right direction now.”
Mayor John Paterson
6
business elite canada
H
june 2016
june 2016
H
business elite canada
7
