Objective: To position the County of Simcoe with a strong foundation and action plan to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).

The County of Simcoe Economic Development Office (EDO) works with the County's sixteen member municipalities as well as the cities of Barrie and Orillia in various ways to advance regional economic development priorities, including efforts in foreign direct investment and investment attraction. In order to build a strong base and be best equipped to handle investment related inquiries, County staff have undertaken many key investment readiness activities to improve regional capacity and be prepared to attract FDI. These activities include such things as the development of FDI research and value propositions, investment readiness assessment training, FDI training for staff, development of an online land inventory and establishing a ‘request for information’ site selection service. Building upon these projects, the County undertook investment attraction initiatives to ensure investors are aware of the advantages of expanding into and within our region. Investment attraction activities include completing a lead generation project and subsequent qualification of identified leads; outbound missions to Chicago and Germany to meet with influential site selection companies, investor meetings with qualified leads and meetings with Headquarters of companies with an existing presence in Simcoe County as well as participation in various sector specific trade shows.

Currently, the County EDO is seeking a consultant’s assistance to develop a foreign direct investment (FDI) strategy and marketing plan, along with a multi-year implementation action plan, which continues to build upon recently completed initiatives in order to enhance our capabilities and effectiveness with regards to FDI and ensure foreign investors are aware of the proven advantages of expanding into and within the County.