Where Oh Where Can He Be

The new Undevelopment Commission head. Wasn't he to have started by now?

Don't you wish you knew what he thought:

• "5.1 Board Chairperson’s Report
  
  The Chair Lindsay Boyd welcomed Ron Gaudet, and asked him to report on his perceptions/ thoughts after his initial 2 weeks in Windsor‐Essex...
  
  Moved by Joe Byrne to accept Chair’s Report, seconded by Dave Cooke."

I know he has been having "in camera" meetings:

• "It is a message Ron Gaudet repeated endlessly during his first two months on the job, as he met business and community leaders day after day. He delivered it again Wednesday and got an encouraging response during a six-hour, closed-door session with 165 of them at the Ciociaro Club."

And making speeches:

• "Windsor Essex County Engineering Week
  2010 "Engineering The Future"
  
  Guest Speaker: Ron Gaudet, Chief Executive Officer of the Windsor-Essex Economic Development Commission"

He will be speaking in Leamington too at the end of the month at the Leamington Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. The promo for the event shows that he has more prizes than even our Mayor for business:

• “Canadian Economic Developer of the Year”
• “Canada’s Top 40 under 40”
• “Top 50 Atlantic Canadian CEO’s”

To be fair, he had an interview on CKLW the day after his term started and then a seven minute CKLW interview in mid-March. [However, that was in this time-slot: "TUESDAY: 4:50pm -- Vice President Patrick Persichille from the Windsor Essex Development Commission." Why isn't Ron speaking instead?]

And truly remarkably, his colleague got a big contract here although Gaudet was not involved:

• "After hiring Gaudet, the WEEDC board's next priority was to revamp the region's roadmap for economic development, said chairman Lindsay Boyd. It used a $40,000 provincial grant to hire Moncton-based David Campbell, a former colleague of Gaudet, to do the research and complete a draft of the strategic plan by April, Boyd said.
  
  Gaudet was not involved in the decision to award the contract to Campbell's Jupia Consultants Inc., and the board considered several other proposals, he said. "By far, David's was the best."

But still, this is hardly a good sign:

Perhaps he has been in hiding, updating the Undevelopment Commission's Newsletter since the last one shown on its website is dated January/February, 2009.

My reasons for asking where he is:

• "Francis calls meeting that can't wait
  
  Mayor Eddie Francis has called a special meeting of city council for tonight to discuss an economic development opportunity so pressing it can’t wait until council’s next regular meeting April 12...
  
  While remaining tight-lipped, the mayor said the item is unrelated to the recent multibillion-dollar Samsung investment announcement for Ontario and that it is “something we’ve been actively pursuing.”

Wow, can't you feel the excitement. The City has been captivated by this hint from the Mayor!

That is the royal "we" in case you are interested. You know how much Edgar (aka Eddie) likes to share glory. Will the CEO be there to make the presentation? That should be fascinating to find out. Oh heck, maybe it is just related to a possible DRIC road settlement and the gazillions of jobs it will produce for us.

And this:

• "Plant signals solar future
  Up to 100 green jobs possible in city as German company eyes May startup
  
  Mayor Eddie Francis said he hoped Schletter's arrival in Windsor to set up shop was the first of many such green energy plant openings to come.
  
  "We've been working on a bunch of these for a while now, and it's good to finally see one come out of the hopper."
  
  Patrick Persichilli, vice-president of the development corporation, said Schletter's decision to choose Windsor for its latest plant is a harbinger of good things to come.
  
  "The significance of this investment for us is that it's among the first European companies on the component side (of solar energy) to set up shop in Ontario," Persichilli said.
  
  "And there is a reason they're here. They've got something in the pipeline, obviously. They've got a plan. And we have what they want: location and a highly skilled workforce."

Again, the royal "we" but more importantly, it is the VP speaking on behalf of the Development Commission not Mr. Gaudet.

Who knows, perhaps Ron will jump out of a cake with a big announcement for us tonight. After all, he is showing the Leamington people

• "how we can help achieve our mission to maximize economic diversity, growth and prosperity in the Windsor-Essex Region."