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Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Daily Update: July 18, 2023

Legacies of West Lincoln: Honouring the Businesses that Define the Township, shovels in the ground for the new South Niagara hospital, and more.

In this edition:

  • Legacies of West Lincoln: Honouring the Businesses that Define the Township
  • Shovels in the ground for the new South Niagara hospital
  • Siltech Corporation building a $100 million manufacturing plant in Fort Erie
  • Ontario creating opportunities for youth in Niagara
  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.8 per cent year over year in June
  • St. Catharines seeks feedback on waterfront access
  • Further expansion of Niagara College-led consortium of postsecondary academic institutions

Legacies of West Lincoln: Honouring the Businesses that Define the Township

Nestled within the vibrant region of Niagara lies the historical township of West Lincoln. This charming community has flourished with the support of longstanding businesses and community members that have helped shape its rich heritage. From longstanding family traditions to innovative industry leaders, these companies embody the spirit of community, strength, and innovation. Join us as we celebrate the legacies of West Lincoln and the extraordinary individuals behind these businesses.

Click here to read more about these West Lincoln legacies!


Shovels in the ground for the new South Niagara hospital  

Today, Niagara Health was joined by Premier Doug Ford, Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Kinga Surma, Minster of Infrastructure, to celebrate the start of construction on the new South Niagara hospital. A ceremony was held on the future hospital site to break ground on the 1.3-million-square-foot facility.

The facility has been designed to meet the growing needs of Niagara’s aging population, featuring centres of excellence in complex care, wellness in aging and stroke. The 12-storey building will hold 469 single patient bedrooms, eight operating suites, 42 hemodialysis stations and two MRI machines. It will offer a full scope of hospital services, including emergency, critical care, diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical services.

Click here for more details.


Siltech Corporation building a $100 million manufacturing plant in Fort Erie

Siltech Corporation, an Ontario manufacturer of specialty silicone, is investing $100 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Fort Erie, and create 51 new jobs.

The new 210,000 square-foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will become the company’s third facility in the province, allowing them to meet growing demand and expand to new markets around the world. As part of this investment to expand operations, the Ontario government is providing $5 million in funding through the Regional Development Program’s Southwestern Ontario Development Fund.

“Siltech is excited to be building in Fort Erie,” said Dag Enhorning, President of Siltech. “We are a proud Canadian company and look forward to many years of growth in this community.”

Click here for more details.


Ontario creating opportunities for youth in Niagara

The Ontario government is investing $2.9 million to help 250 young people in the Niagara region train for meaningful and well-paying careers in the technology sector. Led by the Town of Lincoln, the Youth Skills Studio will prepare people under the age of 30 for the future of work with a four-month paid training program and connections to 75 small and medium-sized businesses hiring in high-tech, manufacturing, hospitality, tourism, and other critical sectors.

Click here for more details.


The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.8 per cent year over year in June

According to Statistics Canada, the CPI rose 2.8 per cent year over year in June, following a 3.4 per cent increase in May. While deceleration was fairly broad-based, another base-year effect in gasoline prices led the slowdown in the CPI. Excluding gasoline, headline inflation would have been 4.0 per cent in June, following a 4.4 per cent increase in May.

Canadians continued to see elevated grocery prices (+9.1 per cent) and mortgage interest costs (+30.1 per cent) in June, with those indexes contributing the most to the headline CPI increase.

Click here for more details.


St. Catharines seeks feedback on waterfront access

The City of St. Catharines is looking for resident feedback as a new Waterfront Access Master Plan (WAMP) is developed.

The City is looking to make improvements and beautify the shoreline along Lake Ontario. The study area includes the entire St. Catharines shoreline including beaches, parks, trails, and other waterfront access points. Residents are asked to provide their feedback before August 11, 2023.

Click here for more details.


Further expansion of Niagara College-led consortium of postsecondary academic institutions  

Fleming College has become the latest Southern Ontario Network for Advanced Manufacturing Innovation (SONAMI) member, a Niagara College-led consortium of postsecondary academic institutions that provides competitive, disruptive, and innovative solutions to Ontario’s manufacturers.

The addition of Fleming College to SONAMI now brings the total in the network to 11 postsecondary partners, including Centennial, Conestoga, Fanshawe, George Brown, Lambton, Mohawk, Niagara and Sheridan colleges, and McMaster and Queen’s University.

Through the centralized SONAMI hub, member institutions pool their resources and talent to match them to the needs of SMEs in various industries, giving them access to cutting-edge technologies, knowledge and funding in order to de-risk their applied R&D, create innovative new products and optimize processes.

Click here for more details.


Did you know?

The most productive day of the workweek is Tuesday


Focus on Technology

Microsoft unveils more secure AI-powered Bing Chat for businesses to ensure ‘data doesn’t leak’

Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business

Today, Microsoft announced a more secure version of its AI-powered Bing specifically for businesses and designed to assure professionals they can safely share potentially sensitive information with a chatbot.

With Bing Chat Enterprise, the user’s chat data will not be saved, sent to Microsoft’s servers or used to train the AI models, according to the company.

Click here to read more.


Through the Daily Updates, the GNCC aims to deliver important business news in a timely manner. We disseminate all news and information we feel will be important to businesses. Inclusion in the Daily Update is not an endorsement by the GNCC.


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