Additional Information

Rooted in Community

I am a lifelong resident of the Ramara area, with a personal history woven into the fabric of this township. From my early days working at the Harbour Inn in Housekeeping and Serving at Neptune’s Bistro Marina to growing up on the family-run MacIntyre/Woodville Livestock Auction Sale Barn, my perspective is informed by a deep appreciation for the people, culture, and potential of our home. I understand where we have been, the magic that makes this community special, and the hard work required to help it thrive.

Professional Expertise

After 20 years in Toronto building a career in advertising, marketing, and production, I returned to my roots to pursue my passion for real estate. Currently, as a professional agent with Royal LePage Signature, I specialize in the rural and waterfront properties that define our region. My career has been defined by:

Strategic Marketing: Leveraging decades of high-level production and advertising experience to highlight the unique assets of our community.

Business Leadership: Successfully navigating the complexities of the real estate market, negotiating on behalf of clients, and managing business operations.

Community Engagement: Actively contributing to our local economy through committee work with the Orillia Chamber of Commerce and the Orillia Business Women's Association.

A Vision for Ramara

My journey has taken me from the grassroots of a family farm to the fast-paced world of city marketing, and back to the waterfronts I love most. I am running for Deputy Mayor because I am deeply invested in our township’s success. My goal is to combine the lessons learned from my diverse professional background with my genuine, lifelong commitment to Ramara to create clear, actionable results for all of us.

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CURRENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

What is the Goal?

To make Ramara a stronger, more prosperous, and self-sufficient community by creating local jobs and supporting businesses.

How Will They Do It? (The Five Pillars)

Business Retention & Expansion
- Basic Idea: Keep the businesses we already have and help them grow.
- Action: Create a "Business Ambassador" program to visit and help local owners.

Investment Attraction
- Basic Idea: Convince new businesses and developers to move to Ramara.
- Action: Promote Ramara to industries like green technology and agri-tourism.

Tourism and Placemaking
- Basic Idea: Make Ramara a place people want to visit, which supports local shops and restaurants.
- Action: Improve parks, support events, and promote our waterfront.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Basic Idea: Help new local businesses get started.
- Action: Provide resources, training, and space (like a co-working hub) for startups.

Community & Infrastructure
- Basic Idea: Ensure the township has the basic services (roads, internet, amenities) needed for growth.
- Action: Advocate for better broadband internet and support the development of a village core.

Simplest Takeaway:

Ramara wants to stop relying only on commuters and tourism. The goal is to build a year-round economy where people can work, live, and shop locally.

THIS IS FLUFF:

Economic Development Strategic Plan

The Township of Ramara is committed to strengthening both its economy and its community. The Economic Development Strategy provides a roadmap to guide this commitment, setting out clear priorities, goals, and actions that reflect the needs of residents, businesses, and stakeholders.

Developed through extensive consultation and aligned with the Township’s broader strategic direction, the strategy focuses on enhancing infrastructure, supporting business retention and expansion, addressing barriers to development, and attracting new investment.

Mission

To serve as a connector, advisor, and facilitator of the economic development ecosystem that will support the attraction, retention, and expansion of business in Ramara.

Vision

Our vision is for a cohesive, well-serviced community that has facilitated the development of a diverse and profitable business community and municipality.

Strategic Goals

Increase the amount of infrastructure
Enhance and increase the level of capacity and service for economic development
Identify and address barriers to development
Support business retention and attraction from start-up to expansion
Promote investment in Ramara

To transform this strategic framework into an actionable plan for growth, we must move beyond high-level aspirations and adopt a disciplined, results-oriented approach that prioritizes execution, accountability, and fiscal responsibility. This involves taking the existing five pillars and immediately translating them into a concrete, phased implementation roadmap with specific, measurable, and time-bound Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—such as targets for new commercial assessment and net new jobs created annually. By rigorously prioritizing the top three high-impact initiatives within the plan, rather than attempting a fragmented, everything-at-once approach, we can focus our limited municipal resources and staff capacity on strategies that generate the greatest return on investment. Ultimately, this actionable plan must be directly integrated with the municipal budget and staff work plans, ensuring every dollar spent and every hour worked is clearly tied to achieving measurable economic growth and prosperity for the residents and businesses of Ramara.

1. The "How": Vague Strategies without Tactics

The document excels at telling us what needs to be done (the pillars) but fails to explain how to do it.

Example from the document: Under Pillar 2: Investment Attraction, one action is to "Leverage marketing tools to showcase Ramara."
The missing "bone": Which marketing tools? Targeted digital ads? Direct mail to specific developers? A new website? What is the message? Who is the target audience (sector)? Simply saying "market more" is not a strategy; it's an aspiration.

2. Missing Implementation Roadmap (Timelines)

A strategy without a timeline is just a wish list.

The missing "bone": The plan covers 2021–2026, but there are no phased goals. Will we hire the Business Ambassador in Year 1 or Year 3? Will broadband be available in specific hamlets by 2023 or 2025? Without dates, there is no accountability.

3. The Missing "Bones" of Budget and Staffing

Economic development costs money. It requires staff time to execute marketing, visit businesses, and write grants.

The missing "bone": Nowhere in this document is there an estimate of the financial investment required to achieve these goals, nor an assessment of whether current staffing levels are adequate to take on this increased workload. If the budget for implementation isn't tied to the strategy, the strategy will sit on a shelf.

4. Unrealistic Scope (Prioritization Failure)

The document lists 20 broad strategies across 5 pillars. For a small municipality like Ramara, trying to do everything at once usually means nothing gets done well.

The missing "bone": A true strategy involves making tough choices and prioritizing. It should identify the top three high-impact initiatives that will move the needle the most, rather than a laundry list of "good ideas."

5. Failure to Define Success (Key Performance Indicators - KPIs)

The document includes "Measurement and Evaluation" sections that are fundamentally weak.

The missing "bone": It might say success is measured by "increased assessment value." But that is too broad. Is the goal to increase commercial tax revenue by 5% by 2026? Is the goal to create 50 new full-time local jobs? Without specific, numeric targets, council and staff cannot objectively determine if the strategy succeeded or failed.

Conclusion: This document is a Strategic Framework, not an Economic Development Action Plan.

Moving from this outline to reality requires asking the administration for the "bones" you identified: detailed implementation plans, specific budgets, and measurable, time-bound targets.

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QUARRIES

INDUSTRIAL LAND

QUARRIES

Aggregate Industry There are currently 14 licensed quarries on approximately 1,560 hectares of land and eight licensed sand and gravel pits on 140 hectares of land within the Township of Ramara. This equates to a total of 1,700 hectares of land for licensed aggregate operations and a total annual extraction limit of 7.4 million tonnes. More than 95% of the extraction limit is devoted to the quarries. The primary trucking routes used by most quarries and pits in the Township are County Road 169, Highway 12, County Road 47 and County Road 44.

TOURISM

INDUSTRIAL LAND

QUARRIES

Tourism Industry Ramara’s tourism industry is an integral component of the local economy. The two major segments within this industry are seasonal tourism and casino related tourism. Recreational activities characterize the seasonal tourism industry that are centred around winter and summer activities along waterways and lakes in and around the Township. The large number of seasonal dwellings within the Township demonstrates the importance of this segment. A majority of seasonal dwellings are located on the shores of Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchiching, Lake St. John, Lake Dalrymple, Green River, Talbot River, Black River and other waterbodies. Furthermore, the area immediately south of the Chippewas of Rama (Mnjikaning) First Nation Lands, known as the Rama Road Economic Corridor is an important tourist and destination commercial node.

INDUSTRIAL LAND

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Industrial Land Use To encourage further development of secondary and tertiary industries, the Township created the Ramara (formerly Mara) Industrial Park in 1986. Approximately 39 hectares of land immediately south of Brechin were designated industrial and include Municipal water and wastewater servicing. Additional industrial lands are located to the south of the Ramara Industrial Park and are suitable for dry-industries, which means that they do not require municipal water and sanitary servicing. An employment area has been identified to the east of the Ramara Industrial Park, within an extension to the settlement area of Brechin.

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CURRENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

What is the Goal?

How Will They Do It? (The Five Pillars)

Simplest Takeaway:

Economic Development Strategic Plan

Mission

Vision

Strategic Goals

1. The "How": Vague Strategies without Tactics

2. Missing Implementation Roadmap (Timelines)

3. The Missing "Bones" of Budget and Staffing

4. Unrealistic Scope (Prioritization Failure)

5. Failure to Define Success (Key Performance Indicators - KPIs)

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QUARRIES

INDUSTRIAL LAND

QUARRIES

TOURISM

INDUSTRIAL LAND

QUARRIES

INDUSTRIAL LAND

INDUSTRIAL LAND

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