With the right approach, Niagara can continue to be a powerhouse in the key sectors of agribusiness, manufacturing and tourism, says newly released Brock research.<\/p>\n
The latest report by the Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) analyzes the region\u2019s established and emerging sectors and how Niagara Region\u2019s 10-year Economic Development Strategy addresses these areas.<\/p>\n
Supported by funding from the Wilson Foundation<\/a>, the report also recommends a variety of ways to boost Niagara\u2019s economic resiliency.<\/p>\n \u201cLike other regions in Canada and worldwide, Niagara is navigating the choppy waters of shifting global markets, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, unprecedented climate change and the persistent challenges of growing income inequality and job precarity,\u201d says Professor of Political Science and NCO Director Charles Conteh, the report\u2019s lead author. \u201cThe recommendations from our study focus on how Niagara can orchestrate change in partnership with public, private and non-profit stakeholders as it navigates these global rapids.\u201d<\/p>\n The research shows Niagara has excelled in agribusiness in recent years, particularly in the animal food production and farm product wholesaler industries. The region has seen employment growth of 22 per cent in this sector versus two per cent growth in Ontario from 2013 to 2023.<\/p>\n During that same time, the region\u2019s manufacturing sector saw a 19 per cent increase in employment, compared to five per cent in Ontario and Canada. Key manufacturing areas include animal food production, industrial machinery and furniture.<\/p>\n Although Niagara\u2019s tourism sector has declined as a whole, there are bright spots. These include scenic and sightseeing water tours, which saw a 305 per cent increase from 2013 to 2023, and recreational vehicle (RV) parks and camps, with a growth of 187 per cent.<\/p>\n The report identifies several promising trends in the emerging sectors of information communication technology (ICT), health care and the aerospace industry.<\/p>\n The research team, which includes NCO Research Fellow Nathan Olmstead, Research Associate Felice Martinello and Research Assistant Tia Henstra, calls for policy-makers to adopt the \u201csmart industrial specialization\u201d approach to economic development in Niagara, which involves thinking about subsectors rather than whole sectors.<\/p>\n \u201cSmart industrial specialization is about identifying and building on Niagara\u2019s core strengths, and the relationships that exist between things like manufacturing, agriculture and tourism within the region,\u201d says Olmstead.<\/p>\n Other recommendations in the report include creating \u201cindustry-led innovation consortia\u201d in which a variety of stakeholders work together to build Niagara\u2019s competitive edge and establishing \u201cindustrial corridors\u201d that expand Niagara\u2019s economic reach to nearby markets.<\/p>\n The report, \u201cThe Next Frontier of Economic Development in Niagara: From Concierge to Orchestrator of Change<\/a>,\u201d was one of several studies presented at the Wilson Foundation Symposium, held at Brock on Tuesday, Sept. 17. The event concludes the two-year Brock-Wilson Foundation partnership on the project \u201cHistory of Niagara\u2019s economic development in a changing world<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Conteh led a team of Brock researchers, including Olmstead, Martinello, Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Vlossak and Adjunct Professor of History Kimberly Monk that produced a series of papers examining Niagara\u2019s economic history over the past 200 years, presented to the community March 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Foundation provided Brock with a $500,000 philanthropic investment in support of the initiative, which brought together an interdisciplinary research team focusing on five key economic sectors: hydroelectric power generation, manufacturing and industry, marine transportation, tourism and agribusiness.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are pleased with the outcome of the study and the progress to date of the Brock project,\u201d says L.R. Wilson, the Foundation\u2019s Chairman. \u201cHopefully, it will help navigate the economic development of the Niagara region well into the future.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the right approach, Niagara can continue to be a powerhouse in the key sectors of agribusiness, manufacturing and tourism, says newly released Brock research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":95685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9794,3319,1,5,38],"tags":[13837,8008,492,3095,4104,1029,8023,7488,13835,3157,75,13836,6982,63,617,3325,10038,5371,12976],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95684"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95697,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95684\/revisions\/95697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}