Back in May, the Morden and District Chamber of Commerce invited stakeholders from within the Morden community to take part in Morden Bold, an initiative to brainstorm ideas and concepts to impact the economic growth of the city positively.

A culmination of innovative long-term vision and bold ideas and initiatives, the discussions have been taken and implemented into the Morden Bold Platform, and have been presented to the Mayor and Council.

The platform covers four main areas; tourism, economic development, community, and transportation.

The four ideas were chosen because, as MDCC vice-chair Scott Hoeppner puts it, "they fell together organically."

"The thought process was interesting. When we were in the middle of the event itself, as a participant, it became increasingly apparent there were certain themes, and there was a large degree of consistency amongst the ideas being brought forward."

Each category goes over the "bold" ideas from the local business leaders and recommendations from the chamber.

Hoeppner says there's a recognition from the community that Morden has many assets that would lend themselves to eco-tourism. He says Morden should be developing those assets to establish itself into a tourism destination.

Economic development dovetails nicely with tourism, says Hoeppner, as tourism feeds the economy. Other ideas included a tech-port, expand the industrial park, proceed with North Forge, Business/Entrepreneur Support Centre Mentorship, among others.

Community touches on economic development are done in such to ensure Morden remains desirable, livable and affordable, and citizens want a well-defined plan from the city.

Finally, transportation deals with accessibility for Morden residents and the continual need for public transportation.

"Our hope in creating this platform and coming up with the ideas is that community and our elected officials will take these ideas, consider them, and see what is feasible."

He adds the next step is seeing if the city council will get behind these ideas and move forward with the community.

To view the full Morden Bold Platform, click here.