Bullet News
For the second year in a row, Port Colborne has won multiple awards from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).
Earning four 2012 IEDC Excellence in Economic Development Awards, Port Colborne continues to gain international recognition for its marketing and promotional work.
With two first-place finishes and two second-place finishes for four 2011 initiatives, Port Colborne received significant recognition at the awards ceremony celebrating the world’s best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials, and the year’s most influential leaders. Award honours were presented to the City of Port Colborne for the following:
• Niagara’s South Coast Arts and Culture Route Launch Event received a gold award in the Special Event category. The Niagara’s South Coast Arts & Culture Route was designed to build awareness, attract tourists and promote economic diversity. The Arts and Culture Route was launched at a day-long event scheduled to align with Canada’s National Culture Days. It celebrated the arts community through demonstrations and displays by more than 35 local artists. Over 300 people from Southern Ontario and Western New York attended the launch.
• Manufacturing, Transportation, and Wind Energy companion brochures received a gold award in the General Purpose Brochure category. Recognizing Port Colborne’s unique competitive advantages, the economic development department produced a series of brochures that promote business retention and expansion by highlighting the community as a location for new manufacturing investments. The brochures function as stand-alone brochures, companion pieces, or to complement community information folders.
• The Carbohydrate Valley Video received a silver award in the General Purpose Promotion category. This video aims to leverage existing businesses in Port Colborne’s bio-food cluster, Carbohydrate Valley, by attracting new investment to this rapidly expanding business stream.
A new 11-minute high-definition video promotes the concept of Carbohydrate Valley to viewers, along with strong messaging about the role that Port Colborne plays in the bio-food industry. The theme of the video, “all the right ingredients”, emphasizes that Port Colborne is one of the few locations in North America with local access to key bio-food products, as well as an investment-ready location with strong transportation links to Canadian and American markets.
• Residential Development Advertisements received a silver award in the Paid Advertising Campaign category. This campaign is part of a strategy to actively promoting Port Colborne to the development industry as an exciting community, well positioned for new residential developments. To encourage new residential development in the community, the economic development department leveraged the picturesque beauty of this small urban municipality with innovative marketing tools. The campaign features images from a unique perspective thanks to the use of birds-eye level photography.
The IEDC Excellence in Economic Development Awards competition attracts submissions from around the world and is judged by a panel of experts engaged in economic development and marketing.
“Receiving these awards two years in a row speaks to the quality of the programs and marketing being done by the city’s economic development, tourism and marketing department,” said Vance Badawey, Mayor of Port Colborne. “Port Colborne’s strong, innovative marketing tools continue to garner attention among investors and businesses.”
IEDC is a Washington, D.C. based organization with over 4,500 members.