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Economic Outlook Breakfast paints favourable picture of local economy

November 15, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Local business owners, business leaders, and people involved in boosting the local economy gathered for the Orangeville Economic Outlook Breakfast held a the Best Western on Tuesday (Nov. 5).

The annual event is an opportunity for the business community to get up an update on the economic situation at both the national and local level.

“We host this breakfast every fall to bring the business community an update on the economy and the forecast for the next year,” explained Ruth Philips, Orangeville Economic Development manager. “Usually our key speaker looks at national, international, and the local market as well. What we heard today is there is good and steady growth and the labour demands continue to grow. We have business owners and business leaders here today.”

Keynote speaker James Marple, director and senior economist at TD Bank, said the current outlook is favourable but is trending slightly lower than hoped.

“There is modestly below-trend economic growth reflecting some of the headwinds on the external front. Things like the trade war and uncertainty related to the U.S. and the political situation,” Mr. Marple said. “All those things are weighing on the portion of Canadian economic growth. But we still have a lot of sectors that performing very well and overall we should maintain steady, albeit a bit slower, economic growth than we’ve seen over the past several years.”

Mr. Marple said the economic impact at the local level relies on growth in population and business.

“So much of it depends on how many people move in. Migration and population growth and drive broader economic growth. Business expansion follows from that. I think the trend there has been very good and I think we’ll continue to see very strong population dynamics in Ontario and continuation of wanting to attract new people. The reality is affordability pressures in communities like Orangeville continue to benefit from that.” 

Consumer debt continues to be a problem as rising housing and related costs put more pressure on the average person.

“It is something that becomes a vulnerability especially if there is a slowdown in the economy or a bit of a recession,” Mr. Marple said. “People who have taken on the most debt they can afford will be in trouble, that’s the reality. I think as long as we continue to see growth and low interest rates we can maintain this, but it is something that is watched more as a potential vulnerability should things slow, or interest rates rise dramatically. As we’ve seen, a little bit of an increase in interest rates has a tendency to slow things in a noticeable way. I don’t think that will happen. There’s no catalyst out there for it. But that kind of thing, given the growth we’ve seen in housing and other things would make it a lot harder for people to service their debt if interest rates were to spike.” 

Mulmur resident Ken Hall spoke of his company, 2Dogs Games, which he started in 2017.

The company develops computer games and now has six full-time employees and six more on full-time contracts with plans to grow to about 30 people over the next couple of years and up to as many as 60 over the next five years.

An engineer by profession and an artist by passion, Mr. Hall has combined his two interests to create a company that uses both of his talents.

He also has had his artwork displayed internationally.

Currently based in Mulmur, he is planning to relocate to the Orangeville area to be more centrally located.

“I started off in mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo and then went through fine arts, and everyone said ‘what are you going to do with those two courses?’” he told the audience.

However he has successfully combined the two interests in his gaming company.

His company continues to grow and has a promising future.

The Orangeville Economic Outlook Breakfast provided local business and community leaders with a good indication of the local economic situation and some guidance on how to plan for the coming year.


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