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As published in Globe and Mail, Oct 13, 2004
Less than a generation ago, few would have given credence to the notion that Sudbury, Ontario, a mid sized city with an inordinate dependence on the mining industry, would blossom into a robust community, dynamic as it is diverse.
In fact it would have been unthinkable at the time when the surrounding terrain was besmirched by a dark pitch coating the rocky surface. The landscape was starkly Dickensian, reminiscent of a previous industrial age when workers suffered quietly under punishing conditions. Denuded by the wholesale harvesting of trees, then poisoned by sulphur dioxode emissions from the smeltering process of neighbouring mines, this northern community’s future looked as bleak as its environs.
But today’s picture, layered with verdant swaths of lush vegetation, wild life and clean lakes, tells another story. Sudbury is undergoing a renaissance of truly significant proportions. Economic diversity, bio-diversity, leading edge scientific discovery and excellence in education are some of the buzzwords used to describe the city’s expansion into the frontier of emergent possibilities. And the buzzwords defining the buoyant mood found in the halls of government and industry are well deserved.
Since the 1970’s a conglomeration of government agencies, industry and individuals have boldly undertaken sweeping projects, earning accolades from the international community and establishing a framework of economic and investment opportunity.
Laurentian University, once fledgling in its ability to attract students, is running at peak enrolment levels due in part to its growing reputation in mining research and the addition of new doctoral programs. Retail developments and expansions of existing complexes are mushrooming at unprecedented levels. Laurentian Hopsital, the fourth largest in the province, continues its pioneer efforts in areas of cancer research while becoming northern Ontario’s principal health care center. Advancements in biotechnology are poised to open vistas of opportunity through researching drugs at various levels of clinical development. And the health care industry can look forward to further expansion as Sudbury’s new medical school, scheduled to receive its first students in 2005, breaks ground.
Building on a long tradition of mining, developments in mining technology and supply services are expanding at such a rate that Sudbury’s mayor, Dave Courtemanche, envisions the establishment of a world class institute spearheading research and development.
The City of Greater Sudbury, home to over 155,000 residents in an area exceeding 3,500 square kilometers, has undergone many dramatic developments.
Its environmental re-greening project, for example, speaks to the proportions of the challenges it has successfully addressed. Thanks to the determination of several partners committed to qualitative change, much of the Sudbury region has been transformed. Birch and poplar trees proliferate on rocky hillsides that were once dark and arid. Wildlife rustles through the new growth forests. And aquatic life, non-existent for decades in neighbouring lakes, has returned.
Since 1978 when the re-greening project began, over 35000 acres have been reforested with eight million trees. The multi million dollar reclamation effort, originally viewed with some skepticism, has been greeted with a resounding nod of approval. In 2003, 150 of the world’s experts in environmental recovery came to the Sudbury region for a conference featuring the project’s success. Numerous awards have been earned in various aspects of the work. According to Stephen Monet, coordinator of environmental initiatives for the City of Greater Sudbury, the enduring reclamation efforts are self - evident. “The success of the program lies in the contrast, the dramatic difference between what was then and what is seen today.”
As if to mark a new era in thinking, the reclamation initiative worked as a template upon which many equally daring exploits have risen. During the mid 1990’s Sudbury’s former mayor, Jim Gordon, spearheaded an initiative to install an information superhighway. “At the time it was equivalent to building a 10 lane highway from Sudbury to Toronto,” says Doug Nadorozny, Greater Sudbury’s Chair of Economic Development. But hard work, the pursuit of a common goal and the marriage of sympathetic minds placed Sudbury on the crest of technological advancement. Gordon’s reasoning, and those who supported the idea, was to develop a superior fibre optic infrastructure that would attract business, research and health related industries. Through broadband technology, it was thought, large amounts of information could be pushed through channels of communication at lightening speed.
Time proved Gordon right! Since 1995 the development of 2500 kilometers of fibre optic cable under city streets created over 3000 new jobs in call centers, software development and research facilities. Several major initiatives have since benefited from the far-reaching ideas of the day.
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, lauded as a premier astrophysics laboratory for its work in particle research, networks with scientists worldwide thanks in part to the information highway.
‘Diversification’ is a term that figures prominently in the lexicon of economic growth and development. Mayor Courtemanche, and those supporting a multi faceted approach, considers it integral to Greater Sudbury’s ongoing success. “Diversification reduces our dependence on the traditional resource based economy. We need to further augment our efforts to engage all of our citizens in the growth of our community,” he insists. Courtemanche supports bolds ideas, so much so that he implemented a ‘crazy ideas’ program. The initiative is to draw on the creative juices of residents in an attempt to leave no stone unturned in fostering regional growth.
The mayor’s enthusiasm is buoyed by the sweeping changes that have ushered in a new era. In January 2001, the city of Sudbury morphed into the City of Greater Sudbury, the result of an amalgamation directive imposed by the province of Ontario. A number of smaller towns in seven municipalities were incorporated into the new Greater Sudbury. In an attempt to create and fairly distribute development through the newly defined city, the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation was formed. Today the GSDC serves as a major instrument in creating a business friendly environment while actively pursuing outside industries to invest.
For John Caruso, Chairman of the GSDC who brings decades of community development work to his position, Sudbury boasts significant advantages. “Where can you find a community where you leave the office and in five minutes be at home on the lake. In another seven minutes you’re on the golf course. For me it’s a no brainer.”
Caruso’s comments speak to the recreational playground Greater Sudbury has become. Over 300 lakes, most teeming with fish and supporting a resurgent wildlife population, form a network of waterways throughout the city. Within minutes any resident can be on the shores of any one of them. For Caruso and his colleagues, Courtemanche and Nadorozny, Sudbury’s advantages are unrivalled. Just three and a half hours from Toronto, it is strategically situated on the trans Canada highway, a central junction point for cross-country travel. An abundance of affordable, serviced land for industrial and commercial development is readily available. Forests and waterways are made accessible by miles of trails, marking the region as a stellar location for family fun.
In 2000 when Sudbury was preparing for the impending amalgamation that followed one year later, community players embraced the city’s unique features by formulating a development strategy that enshrined five areas of growth. “We believed these comprised the cornerstone of development for the next 15 years,” explains Caruso. Known as ‘growth engines’, the five key areas continue to shepherd development along an ascending trajectory of success.
While maintaining their allegiance to diversification, city planners have no intention of discarding past success in the traditional mining sector which continues to play a vital role. Courtemanche is resolute in his determination to see the mining industry evolve to ever-increasing levels of sophistication. “We need to expand on our existing strengths and diversify in the area of mining by developing the mining services and supply sector of the industry.”
In yet another example of sterling cooperation among major players in industry, research and government, the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSAA) was developed. A cluster of 40 companies now works in tandem to find new markets and customers. Negotiations are currently underway with officials in South Africa’s booming mining sector that could see multi-million-dollar transactions between Sudbury companies and new mining ventures in the African nation. With state of the art research facilities working in tandem with companies, the mayor’s optimism is well founded.
High tech exploration work, using advanced computer technology and three dimensional imaging, is being carried out by a number of facilities. Global business means job creation locally, and local educational institutions – including Laurentian University and Cambrian College – are tailoring new programs and services to assist in development. Cambrian’s eDome, a state-of-the-art telecommunications facility, will help the mining association by offering a “virtually continual equipment fair” over the Internet, according to Cambrian’s Ivan Philion.
With supply and services exceeding employment levels in the extraction of ore itself, Sudbury is poised to emerge as a mining metropolis. According to Dave Robinson, associate professor of economics at Laurentian University, there is much to be optimistic about. “Sudbury has the highest concentration of supply services in the world. Mining expertise in the area runs the whole gamut, from environmental remediation to exploration,” he said.
Regardless of the cyclical nature of ore prices, Sudbury’s increasing reliance on its export of expertise and technology renders it more resistant to price fluctuations of natural resources. At the moment, however, the city’s two major harvesters of ore, Inco and Falconbridge, are reaping the benefits of a spike in demand for nickel, with analysts from both companies predicting global supply shortages and unparalleled growth in the Chinese economy. Today the two giants are moving ahead with long-term strategies to increase production levels and capitalize on the high price.
Inroads into health innovation and biotechnology are raising eyebrows elsewhere as the push toward diversification moves inexorably forward. While Laurentian Hospital continues with its ambitious expansion plans, the city prepares for the construction of the Northern Ontario Medical School. The first new medical school in 30 years is about to be built in northern Ontario with campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay. While filling a chronic need for more doctors in the north, the school promises associated economic benefits as well. With medical schools come new students, new infrastructure, new research facilities and highly paid professionals seeking teaching and research opportunities. As a sound economic engine proposed by the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, health innovation is buttressed by growth in areas hitherto unexplored in Greater Sudbury.
Northern Ontario’s premiere biotechnology research corporation, Neureka, is on an ascending trajectory of growth. “The future of biotechnology in northern Ontario is very promising,” said Neureka’s CEO Dr. Magdy Basta. “Biotechnology has the potential of becoming an established industry here.”
Neureka was founded in 1996 to diversify Northern Ontario's economy by creating an infrastructure to bring Canada's booming biotechnology and clinical research industry here.
Neureka is the only research facility of its kind in the North, opening vistas of opportunity for further development. Over 70 pharmaceutical sponsors and research institutions currently work with the Center in researching drugs at various levels of clinical development.
In just five years Neureka has grown to employ over 45 workers. The original 2000 square feet of physical infrastructure has ballooned to include over 25000 square feet of research laboratories. Dr. Basta’s ambitious plans to consolidate the resource- based industries of the north with biotechnology advancements are already taking shape.
Over $600,000 has been provided by various funding sources to establish the Northern Ontario Biotechnology Initiative. NOBI will spearhead the development of the north’s primary resource industries into a consolidated plan.
“This represents a long term plan to include a bio mining, bio forestry and a bio environmental initiative. If we link these industries to biotechnology we can use their respective infrastructures to work in a timely manner,” he said.
Neureka’s expansion follows significant gains already made in biomedicine where its talents have been applied to cholesterol research and the early detection of cancer.
The facility has developed a prototype test kit which serves as a tool in measuring anomalies in the bloodstream. Clinical trials have recently been conducted in Europe. “We are at a very exciting stage with this development,” Basta said. “Once the data has been analyzed we will seek regulatory approval. Then the kit can be marketed.”
Nowhere is the optimism of Sudbury’s future more apparent than in the burgeoning retail market. Tens of millions of dollars fuel the ongoing expansion of existing retail centers and the development of new complexes.
Sudbury has come a long way in marketing the region as an ideal tourist destination. The industry has become integral to the economy, with an annual economic impact exceeding $200 million. The city, through SudburyTourism.ca, recently launched the new initiative, Invite The World, in an effort to bring more conferences, meetings and sports tournaments to the area. Eco tourism operations, a relatively new phenomenon, are taking root in the wilderness surrounding Sudbury, while hunting, fishing and snowmobiling continue to attract a large number of visitors. As cottage country in the Parry Sound area becomes more expensive and populated, some predict southern Ontario vacationers will make Sudbury a prime destination during the holiday season.
Building on the strengths of the past, forging ahead with new ideas, embracing natural and human resources to maximize potential - Sudbury’s thoughtful, multi layered plan of action to promote holistic development has been no less than remarkable, transforming a fledgling industrial wasteland into a fertile climate dripping with potential.
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For professional results, contact Marek Krasuski at (705) 675-5571 or by email: news@marekkrasuski.com
Marek Krasuski writes for:
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