Chatham-Kent's new council members will be working with a new director of economic development who has big plans for maintaining and attracting new business opportunities.
The municipality announced Thursday that Stuart McFadden has been officially appointed to the position.
"I'm looking forward to working with the new council," he said. "We have had a great opportunity and a great council for the last 11 years [I've spent working] with the municipality."
Chatham-Kent has established a professional relationship with the provincial and federal levels of government, something McFadden wants to build on. As for what types of opportunities the municipality is open to, McFadden said Whytes Foods in Wallaceburg is a perfect example of what Chatham-Kent would like to see more of.
"We're in the heartland of agriculture, our focus will be on food processing," he said. "Obviously manufacturing is a big part of our community and we'll continue to talk to companies that are interested."
However, the focus will not shift from local businesses. McFadden said the goal is to also help small businesses and companies thrive and perhaps expand.
"We're going to continue to help out local entrepreneurs, we're going to continue to try and service our existing companies in a very business-friendly manner," said McFadden. "We look to our council's support to help us promote our community as a place where somebody would want to call it home."
In the past, Chatham-Kent has sought international avenues for attracting business, from countries such as China. However, McFadden said at this point the municipality is not focussing on "any specific area".
"We're going to work closely with our federal and provincial partners and we are going to continue to make sure they're aware of where Chatham-Kent is," he said. "We're going to work really hard with our partners and leverage that relationship."
As stated in a release sent by the municipality, McFadden has served as acting director for the past two years and has spent more than two decades in private business as both an owner and operator.
