Rubin Business Park gets FedNor boost

The Oliver-Paipoonge Rubin Business Park is about to get bigger.

MP Greg Rickford (Con. Kenora) made a funding announcement on behalf of Minister for FedNor Tony Clement at a media conference in Thunder Bay Friday. The federal government provided a total of $511,000 to both Oliver-Paipoonge and the city of Thunder Bay.

The majority of that funding will go toward the expansion of the Rubin Business Park. About $360,000 will go toward covering new engineering and servicing costs as well as road construction in order to create 10 commercial lots in the park.

The project will also look at ways to attract new tenants.

Oliver-Paipoonge mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis said this new funding will allow them to put the finishing touches on the project.

“We have the possibility of getting 10 new lots and that will mean 10 more commercial or industrial businesses moving into the area which means more work,” Kloosterhuis said. “It’s going to bring a lot of economic development to the region.”

Business like Precision Wood Design need more space so having that funding for the expansion will help, she said.

Rickford said they chose to expand the park and support businesses like Precision Wood because it helps to strengthen the economy.

“There’s two aspects to a business park; you want to have tenants but more than that you want to have tenants who want to expand,” Rickford said. “A business park is only as good as its capacity to expand for the benefit not just for new business but also for the ones that have been anchored here for some time.”

FedNor also provided $151,000 for the city’s Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal. The regional project that highlights all 32 Northwestern Ontario communities launched in 2010 to attract more investment to the North.

At-Large Coun. Rebecca Johnson said the funding will help to market the website and attract more investment.

“It’s wonderful to have a portal but at the same time if you can’t market it to the world that’s not going to be any value,” Johnson said. “Those dollars are going to allow us to do that.”