Aug/Sep 2013
| Business World Magazine | 139
Communities around the world have been incentivized to develop sustainability platforms for
a variety of reasons. For some, there is a need to improve infrastructure and expand LEED poli-
cies to achieve greater operational efficiency and cost-savings. Others simply focus on eco-
nomic development or strategic businesses planning as a means of attracting new industries.
Some only find their sustainability message following an unfortunate turn of events (such as
the closing of key businesses), which in turn, compels action to better support existing en-
terprises. Very few communities are capable of effectively advancing initiatives with each of
these three separate aspects in mind, yet in Canada, there is a community that has remarkably
demonstrated where there is will, there is a way ... that way leads to Grand Falls- Windsor.
and lastly (and possibly most impressive)
developing a significant healthcare industry;
arguably the most sustainable and biggest in-
dustry in the world.
A local group, the Environment Resource
Management Association, worked towards a
successful and sustainable project for salm-
on fishing by further developing the Ex-
ploits River. As one of the longest rivers in
Newfoundland/Labrador, the Exploits Riv-
er facilitates the farthest path for Atlantic
salmon to swim, leading directly to Grand
Falls-Windsor. The initiative as a whole has
helped increase salmon totals from15,000 to
more than 50,000, in turn, driving the local
industry and economy, as well as increased
flow of tourism.
The move into healthcare, which now em-
ployees over a thousand locally, was a joint
project with local Memorial University
whose development of a health research of-
fice was jointly funded by ACOA’s Commu-
nity Adjustment Fund, the Department of
Innovation, Trade and Rural Development
Regional/Sectoral Diversification Fund, and
the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
