Attracting Professionals

 Notes from Session:

How do we create an environment for young progressive professionals and their families to make our community their home?

What would make young progressive professionals want to come here?
- high quality of life (access to physicians)
- educational systems (choice, non-traditional)
- a way to inform those who arrive here to let them know about  
- further develop recreational areas like Hiawatha, currently undersigned and underdeveloped (resilience committee looking at this)
- in Aberdeen, South Dakota, lots of hunters come through - they know that they have lots of people coming through because they know they love this area - left postcards in hotel and motels - asked people to leave their information
- cohesive initiative to address gaps with regard to lifestyle
- community and region needs a sense of urgency - be aggressive and vigilant, create an alignment - not political in nature - one vision, mission

Ideas
- need one mission:  "this is what we want to be." - then go about creating what that is; bringing it about; visualize it and then build it (the city of Sault Sainte Marie's vision and mission statements)
- doctors tend to like cayaking, nature
- speak about French immersion schools to those looking for educational choices for children
- we could be a real pillar to those looking for a wonderful lifestyle
- provide real estate and motels/hotels with promotional materials about what the Sault and area have to offer
- HAPI looking at how to further develop and promote Hiawatha and other areas - need big area within the Sault to post all the available recreational areas closeby
- moving of government offices to town; a lot of people came here through those office moves
- things were given a boost when MNR moved more people here, the Lottery moved here and brought a richness
- we are a regional centre, need to act like one
- develop corridor along highway 17 north (ecotourism - shuttle bus around major resorts - infrastructure)
- Africa has a rich narrative - how do we develop and prepare the story for the North
- pay to bring junkets even more so - travel journalists - hunting, fishing, canoeing - an Adventure Narrative - need to create one
- host authors to live and write your novel; quintessential history point
- one of the oldest French cities in the country - birthplace of the Metis nation; has reached the understanding that they were a nation - it is here that this has happened
- unique environment - need to have the business and industry community buy into hiring these people - messaging about retiring baby boomers in the next ten to twenty years - to maintain the community
- from space, three of the biggest lakes visible, we are smack dab in the middle of all three - awesome!  how to find us from anywhere - even from space
- how you can live here - in a cottage on a lake only 25 minutes away - stunning, who can offer this type of lifestyle?  not many
- need to encourage the creative economy
- start new enterprises - need to provide those with resources - cooperatives, share the risk, share the investment - cooperative consultants for community-based research
- needs to transition to a culture of inclusiveness - regionally, culturally, sexual-orientation, race, religion
- seek ambassadors in those who have already been here - and reward them for doing so

Action Items for Follow-up
- to contact current Montessori, see what is required to extend schooling to new
- contact doctor recruitment committee to see if they mention adventure recreation on their promotional materials
- repair work to be done - with Francophone and First Nations communities - so that we have ambassadors

Barriers
- lack of visualizing ourself as a regional centre
- a lot of outside looking in; region doesn't feel like it's valued
- lack of connectivity - bits and pieces
- we are pulled to Sudbury and Thunder Bay
- "you don't want us here.":  needs to overcome this misperception