The Municipality of Lambton Shores has established a new economic development coordinator position to help promote smaller communities and draw attention to Forest's industrial park.
Mayor Doug Cook said the coordinator position has been on council's radar for a couple of terms but it was recently identified as a strategic priority.
"We feel that we're just maybe missing a few opportunities in our municipality without having someone going out and beating the bushes for us and promoting opportunities to move some of our economic development forward," Cook said.
A "roadmap" of the municipality's goals can be found online through the Strategic Priorities document for 2023-2026.
Cook outlined some of the immediate priorities for the municipality.
"We do have industrial park land in Forest that we've been trying to put on the radar for a while," Cook said.
He also said the municipality would like to see more activities that promote the downtown cores of their smaller areas.
"Forest, Arkona, Thedford… some of those areas that maybe don't get the highlights that Grand Bend does but we're looking to showcase some more things," Cook said.
Natalie Core was recently hired to take on the new role, effective September 9.
The municipality said Core has a background in economic development and over 10 years of experience in the tourism industry.
Cook also noted her familiarity with the area as Core has lived and worked in Lambton Shores, as well as North Middlesex.