Participation and Local Capacity

Import Replacement and Local Production

Owen Sound already spends substantial amounts on food, construction, repairs, technology, professional services, equipment, energy, household goods, and public services. Much of that spending leaves the region because the required goods or services are produced elsewhere.

Local economic development will begin by identifying practical opportunities to replace a portion of these outside purchases with competitive local production.

The process will:

• identify goods and services imported into Owen Sound and Grey-Bruce;
• determine which needs can realistically be met regionally;
• identify missing skills, equipment, facilities, financing, and supply-chain connections;
• support residents and existing businesses in filling those gaps;
• connect local producers with residents, institutions, retailers, restaurants, farms, housing projects, regional markets, and public purchasing opportunities;
• help successful local producers reach wider regional and external markets.

Import replacement is the primary economic strategy because:

• it begins with proven local demand;
• it keeps more existing spending circulating within the region;
• it develops skills, suppliers, tools, and productive infrastructure;
• it creates opportunities for small businesses, co-operatives, and local workers;
• it diversifies the economy across many locally rooted enterprises;
• it reduces dependence on individual outside employers or seasonal visitor spending;
• it increases regional resilience when outside supply chains or markets are disrupted.

How the City Can Help

• publish upcoming municipal purchasing needs;
• hold supplier information sessions;
• simplify access to procurement opportunities;
• divide suitable large contracts into components that qualified smaller suppliers can compete for;
• support shared workshops, equipment, storage, processing facilities, and business incubation;
• encourage repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and material recovery;
• measure how much municipal and regional spending circulates locally.

Initial Areas of Opportunity

• food growing, storage, milling, preservation, and processing;
• construction materials and affordable housing components;
• forestry products, lumber, firewood, and natural insulation;
• repair, fabrication, tools, parts, and equipment maintenance;
• digital services and locally maintained software;
• transit, logistics, clothing, fibre, household goods, and other practical necessities.

Tourism promotion and business attraction can support the local economy when they create lasting community value. They will complement a broader strategy centred on local skills, enterprises, production, and import replacement.

The strategy will focus on production that is practical, competitive, resilient, and capable of delivering good value. Municipal procurement will remain fair, transparent, competitive, and consistent with applicable law and trade agreements.

Local Skills and Opportunities

Local skills and opportunities prepare residents to produce, repair, process, operate, and manage locally. The City will help residents develop practical skills and pathways into meaningful local work through:

• co-op placements, apprenticeships, internships, and entry-level opportunities;
• connections with schools, Georgian College, tradespeople, businesses, farms, community organizations, and training providers;
• practical workshops in repair, construction, food production, processing, digital skills, fabrication, and other useful fields;
• recognition of practical experience alongside formal credentials;
• support for worker co-operatives, small enterprises, social enterprises, and resident-led projects.

Grey Bruce Makers, Owen Sound’s community makerspace, is an existing local institution providing shared tools, workspace, training, fabrication, prototyping, repair, skill development, and a foundation for new local enterprises.

Ward and Local Participation

Ward and local participation helps residents identify unmet needs, available skills, possible projects, and local enterprise opportunities. Ward Councillors, Local Representatives, public ward meetings, and resident-led projects provide the democratic foundation for ongoing participation.

• regular ward and local-area meetings;
• direct communication with elected representatives;
• resident proposals and local priorities;
• shared stewardship projects;
• pathways for residents to develop civic leadership.

Read the Ward and Local Representation Plan

Developing Local Talent in City Government

Effective local government develops municipal employees and organizational capacity that can deliver more recurring work locally. The City should develop capable employees and leadership from within Owen Sound and the surrounding region wherever qualified candidates are available.

Municipal recruitment and workforce development will:

• advertise opportunities prominently throughout Owen Sound and Grey-Bruce;
• recognize relevant practical experience and local knowledge;
• remove unnecessary credential barriers where equivalent ability can be demonstrated;
• give qualified internal candidates full and fair consideration;
• provide training, mentoring, and succession planning;
• develop employees for advancement into supervisory and management roles;
• value familiarity with Owen Sound’s residents, services, geography, organizations, and economy.

Hiring and advancement will remain based on merit, ability, experience, performance, and the requirements of the position.

For senior leadership, the City will value practical operational experience, financial judgement, community understanding, continuity, and a demonstrated commitment to serving Owen Sound.

Staffing disclosure, salary reporting, manager goals, and public accountability are detailed in the Transparency Plan.

Local-First Digital Capacity

Local-first digital capacity applies import replacement to recurring software, data, and consulting work where local capability is practical. The City will build its own capacity to use modern software and City-controlled computing systems for recurring administrative work.

Recurring work may use locally operated AI, automation, document-search, transcription, and data-analysis tools where these tools are practical, secure, and cost-effective.

Locally operated systems can help with:

• meeting transcription and summaries;
• document search and research;
• compilation of routine reports;
• financial and service-data analysis;
• publication and organization of public records;
• tracking Council decisions, contracts, projects, and management goals;
• repetitive administrative and clerical workflows.

The City will favour:

• municipal control of records and operational data;
• secure local processing where practical;
• open standards and exportable file formats;
• software that City employees or regional partners can maintain;
• reliable backups, security controls, and disaster recovery;
• employee review, verification, and responsibility for published output.

Cloud services and outside specialists can support occasional upgrades, specialized analysis, independent review, and work requiring uncommon expertise.

The goal is to automate repetitive work locally, strengthen employee capability, reduce recurring subscription and consulting costs, and publish useful information more quickly.

Affordable Rural Communities and Regional Production

Grey County administers rural and agricultural lands through the County planning system, and the Mayor of Owen Sound serves on Grey County Council. As mayor, Andrii can bring forward a County Council motion to create a lawful pathway for Affordable Rural Communities across Grey County’s rural and agricultural lands.

Affordable Rural Communities can support import replacement by providing housing, land access, workshops, shared equipment, production space, and opportunities for residents to develop practical livelihoods. These communities could contribute:

• food, nursery plants, preserves, flour, dairy products, and other processed foods;
• firewood, forestry products, natural fibres, and locally made goods;
• cabins, housing components, repairs, crafts, education, and community services.

Grey Bruce Makers, Affordable Rural Communities, local farms, urban businesses, schools, co-operatives, and local-area groups can form connected parts of a wider local production and skill-development network.

Read the detailed Affordable Rural Communities article.

Measuring Local Capacity

The City will publish practical annual indicators showing how much existing demand is being met locally and where further opportunities exist:

• major goods and services purchased from outside the region;
• local suppliers capable of meeting identified needs;
• new products and services developed locally;
• municipal purchasing opportunities awarded to competitive regional suppliers;
• local processing, repair, and manufacturing capacity;
• apprenticeships and practical training connected with identified needs;
• spending shifted from recurring outside contracts or subscriptions to locally maintained capability;
• local enterprises that begin selling outside the region;
• internal municipal promotions;
• resident participation in ward, local-area, and community projects.

The indicators will remain understandable and show progress over time through existing reporting processes.

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