County of Perth Joins the Southwestern Ontario Marketing Alliance

The County of Perth recently committed to annual membership in the Southwestern Ontario Marketing Alliance (SOMA). The Southwestern Ontario Marketing Alliance is one of the longest established regional marketing organizations in the Province of Ontario which caters to the needs of small and mid-size municipalities seeking foreign direct investment opportunities. Current members of SOMA include Ingersoll, Stratford, St. Thomas, Tillsonburg and Woodstock.

“The SOMA Board is pleased to welcome Perth County into the SOMA organization and we look forward to their active participation in delivering a foreign direct investment program that fits their needs along with those of the other member communities”, says Len Magyar, President. “There is no question that by working collaboratively our member municipalities can deliver their ‘investment ready’ message much further afield and much more economically than they can on their own”, he adds.

Membership in SOMA offers instant access to approximately five foreign trade events, membership in several other regional economic organizations and participation in their activities as well as access to any investment missions that SOMA leads. According to Magyar, municipalities going it alone would spend 4 to 5 times more than the price of membership in SOMA to achieve the same level of activity so in a cost conscious environment it continues to makes sense to partner with similar minded communities.

“From our analysis SOMA was very successful in generating a large number of leads and contacts for their members according to Perth County Economic Development Coordinator Meredith Forget. While many SOMA activities are generally focused on foreign direct investment activities we do like the fact that these contacts do potentially create opportunities for our existing businesses as well according to Forget.

Warden Mert Schneider indicated that he has followed the work that SOMA has done in the past and looks forward to opportunities where Perth County can be more actively involved. According to Schneider “SOMA has very effectively leveraged partnership resources and we believe Perth County will benefit from this cooperative model to economic development.” Being part of a larger regional group in order to meet key decision makers opens up a greater range of possibilities to a smaller community like Perth County.

Warden Schneider indicates that Perth County is looking forward to being actively involved with SOMA and benefiting from the leads and economic development profile that the organization generates for the member communities.

CONTACTS:

Len Magyar

President – Southwestern Ontario Marketing Alliance (SOMA)

(519) 539-2382 ext. 2112

Meredith Forget

Economic Development Coordinator

County of Perth

(519) 271-0531 ext. 150