Mark Boileau: Economic Developer of the Year

Twelve years ago, Mark Boileau decided to change career paths, moving from planning to economic development at the City of Cornwall. At the time, he thought it was a move that would allow him to more actively influence the growth of the city’s business sector.

Today, Mr. Boileau’s achievements have been recognized by his peers as he has been awarded the 13th annual Economic Developer of the Year Award at the Ontario East Municipal Conference. “Mark Boileau is a good example of excellence in our profession,” said Stephen Paul, president of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission (OEEDC). “He has been an active member in Ontario East, a strong advocate for Cornwall and in the past year alone, he has helped secure a major distribution centre for Cornwall and Eastern Ontario.”

Mr. Boileau is the manager of the City of Cornwall’s Economic Development Department. He continues to work with Shoppers Drug Mart as the retailer builds a new state-of-the art, 500,000-square-foot distribution centre in the Cornwall Business Park.

The Economic Developer of the Year Award is awarded by Ontario East and is determined through a nomination process among development officers from across Eastern Ontario. The award recognizes those individuals in economic development who “go above and beyond their job to attract businesses, retain businesses and attract investment.” “Mr. Boileau is the second Economic Developer from Cornwall to win the award, as founding Ontario East member Paul Fitzpatrick has also been honoured in the past,” added President Paul. “Through this program, OEEDC is seeking to contribute to the profile of the entire profession by highlighting one of our best. We hope that by doing so we are also providing a role model for new people entering the profession.” “It is very heartening to see Mr. Boileau’s achievements recognized by his peers,” said Bob Kilger, mayor of Cornwall. “Mr. Boileau is an active and valued member of our senior management team, and we congratulate him on this well-deserved honour.”

A wide range of Mr. Boileau’s achievements were recognized in the nomination process, as evidenced by the following comments received by the Commission. “In the last ten years, Cornwall’s economy has diversified and grown—and Mr. Boileau has been an integral player in our success. He has helped many companies establish in Cornwall, which has resulted in hundreds of jobs being created,” said Gilles Latour, chair of Team Cornwall, a business ambassador group. “Mark Boileau is an excellent ambassador for Cornwall and Eastern Ontario.” “We have personally worked with Mark for over twenty years: the past twelve years in his economic development role, and prior to that, when he worked for Cornwall’s planning department,” said Terry Landon and Jamie Cameron, broker-owners of Remax Cornwall Realty Inc. “Whatever the role, Mark continues to bring a consistent, progressive and positive approach to dealing with corporate investors.”

The Ontario East Economic Development Commission is a group of over 124 Ontario East economic development professionals and business leaders who are working cooperatively to promote the region as a premiere business location. Together, the Commission represents more than 200 communities, thousands of businesses and nearly 2 million residents.

The OEEDC represents an area from Kawartha Lakes-Haliburton on the west to Prescott-Russell on the east and from the Ottawa River in the north to the St. Lawrence River in the south.

The Ontario East Municipal Conference (OEMC) is a three-day conference held annually in September and is hosted in partnership by the Ontario East Economic Development Commission and the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing (MMAH). OEMC provides numerous workshops that feature speakers with hands-on, practical experience of interest to small, medium and urban communities.