Mining and forestry are great contributors to the economic wealth of the region, but more diversification is needed and beginning to seep into the regional economy. More companies and projects around science and innovation are beginning to form and this is welcomed news. The new Federal National Science Advisor, Dr. Arthur Carty has indicated that one of the main drivers to prosperity are factors that contribute to innovation. In other words, we need to encourage science, research, commercialization of innovation, and innovative thinking.
Timmins and Northeastern Ontario have been fortunate to have developed a small nucleus of firms that are quiet in their activities, but are a source of pride. With the number of projects currently underway, such as the new proposed Science Village, the Ontario Northeast University, and the Health Science and Emergency Services Centre at Northern College, we could be poised to develop a small but robust bio-products and environment cluster(s).
What is a cluster? It is a linkage between firms and organizations that seek to help each other grow and develop new opportunities. An example of a cluster is the blueberry industry in Quebec. Blueberry farming developed into a cluster of several blueberry farmers. This led to the creation of freezing and drying facilities and eventually, spurred many new entrepreneurs to produce wine, jams, baked products, candies, and more. These types of success stories resulted in the Government of Quebec encouraging more clusters in each region to spur economic development. Companies get together to strengthen each other and find new opportunities and markets.
Clusters need good economic foundations, such as access to human resources, technology, capital, physical infrastructures, and a good business climate. Clusters are supported by a network of suppliers, or companies who provide products and services to the cluster.
At the moment, there are companies such as Mikro-Tek in Timmins, involved in microbiology and producing soil micro-organisms to encourage tree growth. The company is exporting all over the world. This technology could potentially be used for farming to grow fruits and vegetables more quickly and efficiently. Tembec is performing research on ecology in Moonbeam. In Temiskaming, grain growers are investigating genomes for malt extracts and there is already an alcohol plant owned by Tembec. Research is being done on ethanol, on plant extracts (some companies are engaging people to collect various plants today), on microbial enzymes for dust control in mines. Toyota and others are performing research on cold weather and more could be done to look at the environmental impact of cold weather on roads and infrastructure. The Science Village could link students and their research with companies, as well as encourage more young people to consider science as a career. These types of linkages between youth and industry are important because young people often have innovative ideas that they pass on to industry. The new Science Village could also become an incubator facility, encouraging more formal clusters to develop and grow. Northern College is vying for funding to develop more laboratories and they are linked to all colleges, universities, and research institutions through a fibre optic network called ORION and CANet. These facilities could become important to the development of science in the region. The new proposal for a regional university will encourage the development of new scientific minds needed by our industries, and contribute to research and innovation. Knowledge institutions are a key partner in clusters making sure that entrepreneurs are trained and have the information they require to build their business.
Economic development needs continuous innovation in order to survive. Even regions that are highly successful must continually innovate because they start to lose companies and workers as a result of the increased cost of living. Local companies need scientists and we need more innovation. The projects being proposed could work very effectively together to encourage diversification and keep our youth where they belong, here.