Some 20 district municipal and business reps headed to Wausau, Wis. by bus at 8 a.m. today for the annual “Northern Networks” trade conference.
And this year, with the low loonie on its side, the Canadian contingent plans to promote the strength of the U.S. dollar when it comes to buying and investing on this side of the border.
Geoff Gillon, with the Rainy River Future Development Corp. here, noted the low dollar makes this prime time for Canadians to export products.
“The low dollar makes everything we sell more competitive,” he said yesterday. “Now’s a good time to get in.”
“The weakness of the Canadian dollar converts to strength in international trade,” echoed Dr. Bruce Lidkea, who is attending the conference both as the local Chamber of Commerce president and a member of the town’s economic development committee.
“The whole country is on sale here,” he stressed.
Dr. Lidkea noted local businesses already were benefiting from the low dollar, with U.S. customers coming across the border to shop. And that was a much smaller scale of what small and medium business would experience, he said.
“It can’t hurt, especially if we can get people interested in relocating,” noted Mayor Glenn Witherspoon.
Gillon also is hoping to make more contacts with businesses in Minnesota and Wisconsin, which boasts an unemployment rate of two percent. He wanted to bring forward the idea of having some of that work done in Rainy River District, where the jobless rate ranges between seven and 10 percent.
“There’s an awful lot of potential,” he noted. “We have to start thinking about what we can do to help them. But you have to get to know them.”
Mayor Witherspoon agreed, stressing he wanted to make U.S. companies aware the doors were open to do business.
“Certainly, it would be nice to have another industry come in,” Dr. Lidkea said, stressing it would help create a strong regional economic base.
Workshops at the conference, which runs until Friday, include building alliances with Canadian partners, protecting your firm in the U.S. and Canada, and financing your projects.
There also will be emphasis on networking.