November 27, 2009

Tillsonburg, ON - The South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) has announced the approval of its long-range Strategic Management Plan, The Path Forward, by all of the SCOR County Partners; namely, the County Councils of Brant, Elgin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford.

The Path Forward is a long-term strategy for the region that has been developed to assist in the diversification of the regional economy by focusing on 15 priorities that will:

• Respond to the challenges of economic change and decline being experienced throughout the region;

• Strategically invest in people, businesses, communities and infrastructure vital to the diversification of the regional economy;

• Bring an estimated investment of $760M from public sources into the regional economy with approximately $700M going to public infrastructure;

• Attract matching private investment;

• Create an estimated 15,500 jobs across the region within five years;

• Become a model of rural economic revitalization demonstrating ways to sustain and expand agriculture while adding and expanding complementary rural and urban economic activity.

SCOR has also been seeking ways to address our ability to sustain implementation of the strategy and the Executive Committee has endorsed a resolution to incorporate SCOR as a not-for-profit agency.  The SCOR Partners have also endorsed this recommendation and have confirmed their ongoing commitment to the partnership.

SCOR is also undertaking a multi-year analysis of the funding required to support the implementation of the strategy and will be seeking support from senior levels of government for implementation of its 15 priorities for action.

 Additional information, including a copy of The Path Forward, can be found at www.scorregion.com.