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Whitby has great industrial potential WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 19,1976;PAGE 9 - Richard Spence When regional government took over industrial develop- ment and promotion on Jan. 1, 1974, some Whitby residents may have felt the local interests of the town would be abandoned by the regional giant. Far from being abandon- ed, the. industrial interests of Whitby are being promoted by an aggressive, enthusiastic man, Richard Spence, who at 30 is the youngest regional development officer in the Toronto area. Mr. Spence was given the- responsibility of being region- al development officer for Whitby on Jan. 6, 1975, but says after more than a year at this job he would have chosen Whitby if he had the choice "beca.:se the potential of its future is more open". "I don't think Whitby has been cast in a role of an absolute future", he says. "There is an opportunity to grow with the future. There is a lot more scope for a diversified future". Born in Edinburgh, Scot- land, Mr. Spence has been involved in industrial and development promotion for a number of years. Before joining the Region of Durhan he was a sales consultant for an industrial design-built contractor-developer, w!th the region of Durham as his territory. He formerly worked as vice president of sales for CICS, an industrial consulting service, and was a freelance cons* tant on fabrication technology and construction projects. Something of a philoso- pher, Mr. Spence is sensitive to the needs of Whitby and respects the town's historical traditions while at the same time promiting development. "My job is marketing and sales for Whitby's industrial, and commercial land, and some tourism and agriculture, the idea to bring development to the area in order to increase and stabilize the economic base of the com- munity and the region as a whole", he says. Mr. Spence points out that each municipality in the region has a development officer and the development officers operate as a team headed by Bob Nichel as director of development. "Whitby right now has the greatest potential, in that we have available today 500 acres of serviced land at a competitive price and in a municipality whose identity within the regional structure is a positive one", says Mr. Spence. "We have all major services, and transportation by rail and Highway 401, and the deep sea port at Oshawa", he says. "It is most significant", says Mr. Spence, that we are within 30 minutes of the centre of the most potent urban area in Canada-- Metropolitan Toronto". Mr. Spence stresses Whit- by's "beautiful natural fea- tures" such as the harbor and open space to the north. "We have a f irly active cultural base in tetrns of historical sites, Whitby Arts, and excellent educational facil- ities", he says. "Durham is a good place to work and play and Whitby is a testinony to the essence of this", says Mr. Spence. As far as lie is concerned, Whitby is at the centre of the region and "it bas no negatives". He poin.ts out that the provincial government has a policy as far as funding is concerned, to encourage growth to the east of Metro Toronto and especially to the centre of the Region of Durhan--Oshawa-Whitby. In his work, Mr. Spence works closely with Forbes McEwen, Whitby's local co-ordinator of development. "In the past, co-operation with the local municipality bas been good and is in fact getting better", lie says. Mr. Spence is quite aware that many Whitby residents are asking "What *s the region doing for Whitby industrially?" As development otTifcer for Whitby, he considers he bas a number of achievenents to his credit, even though lie bas had the job for lit le more than a year. Since assuming bis position lie has filled one industrial building in the Whitby Industrial "ar' with six occupants, placed three occupants in a multiple tenant building in the Thickson Road industrial park, and brought Fisher Scientific Co. to the Thickson Road industrial park. Much of Mr. Spence's work has been involved in the marketing needs of the Whitby area and bringing Tricont Projects Ltd. and JDS Investments Ltd. to- gether with the region into a joint promotion for the ThicksonRoadindustrialpark. The joint promotion of the industrial park by two competing landholders is a unique achievement says Mr. Spence. In addition ho his work for Whitby alonîe, Mr. Spence has been preparing a consid- erable amount of the market- ing strategy for the regiona development department. "Whitby is getting its fair to better share of what is going on in the Region of Durham", says Mr. Spence. "A large part of my time is spent in assisting clients and developers through all levels of government red tape, and to process and encourage development of land owned by developers". "I am firmly committed to bringing the right kind of development to this com- munity", says Mr. Spence. "The Town of Whitby has a strong centralized identity which is not something every niunicipality bas. "Whitby is unique in' that it lias its own character--a fine balanced character of the historical and the progressive. The identity of Whithy can be preserved within the region. The town of Whitby will always be a centre of sonething". Richard Spence, regional development officer for Whitby, points out on a map, the Thickson Road industrial park, one of the areas with the most potential for industial development in the Durham Region. 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