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Wednesday November 3, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER YOU WOULDN'T TRUST JUST ANYONE TO DRIVE YOUR CAR, SO W HY TRUST JUST ANY COMPANY TO INSURE if ? B5 Business To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Wayne McGill SUM form Mutual AuMnU* In 2345 U ^oofi Rd #21. Oakvile 847-5671 Oakville Ram ada Inn judged b est in Canada O Photo by Christine Smyth Royal Bank's Oakville, M ilton, Burlington and Waterdown offices have provided $5,000 in funding for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) pro gram in Halton. Brian Emo, director o f DARE Halton is holding the cheque along with Halton Regional Police Sgt. Joe Prasad. Looking on (top 1 to r) are: Laurie Miller, Manager Sales and Service, Garry Bader, Area manager Burlington/Waterdown and Marj Dawson, Royal Bank area m anager for Oakville/M ilton. DARE is a 17-lesson life skills program pre sented to grade 6 students, designed to reduce the incidence o f drug abuse and violence DARE SUPPORT: akville's R am ada Inn and C o nvention C entre has been named Year 2000 Property of the Year by Ramada Franchise Canada Inc. The local hotel was select ed for the honour from among 52 Ram ada H otels from across Canada. Exceptional guest service, high level o f com m unity involvem ent, com m itm ent to staff training and the quality of its facilities and amenities were all cited as reasons for the award. "We are deeply honoured to accept this aw ard," said M ichael Gruyich, ow ner of the R am ada Inn and Convention Centre Oakville. "This award is a credit to the excellent sta ff here at the hotel who take pride in every Staff training, com m u n ity involvem ent cited in award aspect o f their responsibili ties. Our com m itm ent to our guests and the O akville com munity will continue into the new m illennium ." Located ju st off the Queen Elizabeth Way, the Oakville Ram ada Inn has 118 guest room s, each featuring coffee m akers, voice mail and ondemand movies. G uests have access to an outdoor pool, fit ness centre with hot tub and sauna and an outdoor beach volleyball court. The property also features nine m eeting rooms w hich can accom m o date 300 people, along with Stars Cafe, Oak Alley Lounge and C oach's Sports Bar. Kory T hom pson, general m anager o f the hotel, told the Beaver he is delighted with the honour which has only been given out in Canada for three years. He feels that em phasis on staff training and community involvem ent are two key areas w hich factored significantly in receiving the award. Last year alone, he noted, over 20 staff m em bers were .sent for train in g courses, from line staff to m anagem ent. Thom pson noted Ramada In n 's involvem ent with the C h am b er of C om m erce, Rotary Club and the Oakville C entre for the Perform ing A rts as ju s t a few o f the h o tel's initiatives in the com munity. Businesses continue to be attracted by town' s benefits The following is a partial summary by the Town of Oakville Economic Development Department on recent business-related activities. To the end of September of this year, about 2,851 general economic development inquiries have been received. These inquiries include requests for community economic and demograph ic statistics, economic development publications, and information on Oakville development policies. From this pool of general inquiries, the Alliance is currently managing an active database of approxi mately 30 clients that are in various stages of site selection and/or project development for Oakville. Less active investment projects are classified dif ferently and represent another 70 clients. To the end of the third quarter in 1999, 12 projects/clients have been completed with the assis tance of Oakville Economic Development staff. The portion of the overall impact of these projects that can be attributed to staff involvement is about 700 jobs and property taxes paid to Oakville of approximately $238,000 per year. Tourism Inquiries The Tourist Information Centre is operated by the Chamber of Commerce through a partnership with the Alliance. The Visitor Centre has seen approximately 14,000 visitors to the end of September of this year and has served 11,167 inquiries. It is interesting to note that 30-40% of the inquiries comes from Oakville residents as the visiting friends and relatives market in an impor tant part of tourism in Oakville. Oakville tourism Marketing Initiatives Oakville's Tourism Committee recently nomi nated David Cash as its representative to the newly created GTA Regional Tourism Committee. The Ontario Ministry of Tourism recently creat ed the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership to coordinate its tourism promotion with the private sector. The Marketing Partnership recently estab lished Regional Advisory Com m ittees, and Oakville is now represented on the GTA Committee. At their September meeting, a presen tation was made on Oakville's tourism industry and attractions/festivals. An analysis of tourism in 1998 found Oakville attracts approximately onemillion visits per year with tourists spending more than $50-million in the community. Opportunities exist for Oakville to enhance its tourism promotion through greater linkages to the Greater Toronto Area. For example, at the Tourism Committee meeting, it was identified that pre- and post-conference tours represent a significant and growing market in tourism. With the rise in con ferences and meetings taking place in the Toronto area, Oakville is well-positioned to package extended or pre-conference stays to enhance local tourism. An Oakville Tourism Marketing Forum is being planned by the Alliance and Chamber Tourism Committee for Nov. 16th at the Ramada Inn, to present the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership 2000-2001 Marketing Plan, discuss packaging opportunities, and local marketing initiatives for 2000. Tourism businesses, event planners, and members of the Town of Oakville Council will be invited to attend. A brochure swap between area tourism businesses will be included. New Business Activity in Oakville In June of this year, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the construction of the new Wendy's Restaurant Head Office in Oakville. The new 38,000 sq. ft. facility is set to open in the fall of 1999 and it will serve as the head office for Wendy's Restaurants of Canada. The facility will also include a restaurant and training facility. The combined facility will employ approximately 150 people. The Town of Oakville played an instrumental role in making this project happen. Town staff through the Public Works and Planning Services Departments assisted with the relocation of the Town's snow dump facilities and the sale of an unopened road allowance to clear the way for the new facility. Wendy' s Head Office is located beside TDL Group, which has been the long time head quarters for Tim Horton's Canada. Wendy's is the latest edition to over 200 head offices that are now located in Oakville. Head Offices locating to Oakville is part of a growing trend as companies expand to locations that offer not only access to the required labour pool but also to a high quality of life. Velux-Canada Incorporated is nearly finished construction of its new Head Office and Distribution Facility in Oakville. Velux is one of the world's leading manufacturers of sky lights and related products and recently selected Oakville out of some 30 sites for its expanded Head Office and distribution facility for Canada. The company will occupy 30,000 sq. ft. including an architecturally striking office building that features the company's products next to the QEW Highway. The company will employ 40 people and will distribute their products across Canada from this location. Ropak Canada Incorporated officially opened its new manufacturing facility on Wyecroft Road. The company is a leading manufacturer of plastic containers and has some 10 manufacturing plants in Canada and the US. The company recently selected a 13-acre site in Oakville after an analysis of some four potential locations. The company facility is approximately 150,000 sq. ft. and will employ 126 people -- virtually doubling its capac ity from its previous plant. Some of the company's largest customers include Petro-Canada and CanAmera Foods both located in Oakville. Ropak is one of 23 plastics companies located in Oakville, which collectively employ about 1,000 people. Winston Business Park News Oakville's Winston Business Park continues to enjoy strong growth and success in 1999. The Park covers about 500 acres and is now home to approx imately 160 businesses employing well over 6,500 people. There is approximately six-million square feet of industrial/commercial space, which gener ates about $ 15-million in property taxes. In June, Omron Dualtec Incorporated official ly opened its new relay switch manufacturing divi sion on Winston Park Drive. This facility is adja cent to its existing facility on Bristol Circle. The new facility manufactures relay switches for the automotive industry. The new building is approxi mately 80,000 square feet in size and employs approximately 150 people. Photo by Peter C. McCusker SPECIAL DONATION: The canines at the Lions Foundation o f Canada's Dog Guides school in Oakville are treated well. Most of their training takes place outdoors in all kinds of weather and $10,000. donation of jackets from M ark's Work Wearhouse should make life a little easier for the trainers. Pictured here: Greg Clarke, trainer with Cairo, Jason Chrysler Head Trainer Hearing Ear Dogs of Canada and Bandit and Nicole Caron Head Trainer Special Skills Dogs of Canada and Supervisor Puppy Development Program and Kennel Operations. Standing are: Mark's Work Wearhouse employees Ian Stacey and Nicole Cruikshank, Marianne Kanold a Canine Vision Canada client, Helen Kanold, Mark's Work Wearhouse M anager and Sally Turney, M arketing and Communications Manager Lion's Foundation of Canada. ZENON signs New Zealand deal Z E N O N Environm ental Inc. will be supply ing its leading edge Zee Weed® membrane filtra tion technology to a new drinking water plant to be built along the Waikato River in New Zealand. Watercare Services Ltd., the water authority responsible for the project, awarded the contract to a consortium of McConnell Smith & Beca Consultants, Thiess Contractors and CH2MHill. This consortium chose ZENON to be the suppli er of its industry leading ZeeWeed® membrane filtration system. ZENON's portion of the con tract is valued at approximately $7-million. The plant, scheduled to be operational by 2002, will service the Auckland community and has planned expansions to over three times its ini tial size over the next 15 years -- making this one of the largest ultra-filtration plants in the Pacific Rim. "The success in this project has great strate gic value to ZENON, as it will be the first major reference plant in the Pacific Rim region. T his area has great o p p o rtu n ities for Z E N O N 's technology, and our recently opened Singapore office has the opportunity to exploit this," said Dr. Andrew Benedek, chairm an and c h ie f ex ecutive officer. "ZENON is proud to have the opportunity to serve W atercare Services Ltd., a highly presti gious w ater company, providing w ater to the largest population base in New Z ealand." ZENON is a world leader in providing advanced m em brane products and services for w ater purification, w astew ater treatm ent, and w ater recycle. The ZEN O N group o f com pa nies operates from six locations in North Am erica, six in Europe, and one in each of Asia, Latin A m erica, and the M iddle East. Z E N O N 's products and services are m ar keted for a variety o f industrial, institutional, and governm ent ap p licatio n through Z E N O N 's offices and representatives located throughout the world. A dditional inform ation is av ailab le at the c o m p a n y 's w ebsite w w w .zenonenv.com . E ntrepreneur takes hom e co lo u r printer One of the perks of attending Halton Region's open house in recognition of Small Business Week, was the opportunity to win a colour printer from Hewlett Packard. Sue Monaghan of Simply Soul Consulting, won the printer. Her firm provides lifestyle plan ning for retirement and works with financial plan ners to offer educational seminars to determine what to do during retirement. Representatives from about 500 businesses attended the Oct. 28th open house which was co sponsored by Royal Bank. Hewlett Packard is a corporate partner o f the Halton Business Development Centre. COGECO@Home is high speed Internet access through cable th a t offers d o w n load speeds up to 100 tim es faster than a 28.8 modem.. Plus, w ith lots of cool content you can go fu rth e r and have more fun. m i IV IC J I1 You're constantly connected. 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