For Immediate Release
February 9, 2009

The award was for top place in the "Product Development – Physical Infrastructure” category. The Tourism Investment Readiness Workbook was created in 2008 through funding support from FedNor/Industry Canada’s Eastern Ontario Development Program and the Ministry of Tourism. The OEEDC Tourism Investment Sector Team worked with consultant McSweeney & Associates to create a guide for communities who have identified a tourism investment opportunity and are seeking to position themselves as "investment ready”.

"I would like to thank the Economic Development Council of Ontario for recognizing this innovative economic development publication," said Stephen Paul, President of OEEDC. "The Tourism Investment Readiness Workbook is the result of the contributions many economic development partners. We look forward to seeing our Ontario East communities creating investment ready tourism product with the assistance of this workbook."

"We are very proud to have been selected to work with the OEEDC to create this award winning work. The Workbook has proven to be a powerful tool for municipalities looking to prepare themselves for the tourism investment market” said Eric McSweeney of McSweeney & Associates.

The Workbook was part of over 150 other submissions from across the province. The Economic Developers Council of Ontario’s Marketing Awards Program recognizes best practices and innovative community partnerships that lead to outstanding marketing materials, campaigns, and publications. All submissions were judged by a panel with specialized areas of marketing expertise from across Ontario.

The Workbook was created in 2008 and has been delivered to Ontario East communities through 2 interactive workshops, a conference presentation, and has been made available to member communities through the OEEDC website http://www.onteast.com/. OEEDC is a group of over 124 Ontario East economic development professionals and business leaders who are working co-operatively to promote the region as a premiere business location.

For further information, please contact: