Oxford Connection’s Familiarization Tour Series receives prestigious EDCO Award of Excellence

The Oxford Connection “Fam Tour” and digital video series has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) Award of Excellence for the Investment Attraction – Urban Population over 100,000 category.

The EDCO Awards of Excellence is an annual program organized by the EDCO Awards Committee that looks for distinctive ideas and initiatives that can become economic development best practices of the future.  

The award was presented to the Oxford Connection group of Economic Development Offices in recognition of the Fam Tour Series as an exceptional example of an investment attraction initiative. The project included an 11 series video campaign and an in-person bus tour of the region which brought together senior real estate professionals from across Ontario, as well a key Ontario Government and business support representatives.

“The objective of the Oxford Connection Familiarization Tours is to market investment opportunities within Oxford County targeted to senior real estate advisors, site selectors and clients,” says Len Magyar, Oxford Connection President.  “The two-day in-person Fam Tour aimed to deliver a full “red-carpet” treatment experience for our partners, complete with a personalized bus tour showcasing current investment opportunities.”

The “FAM” Tour video series takes a deep dive into what makes Oxford County and the municipalities it is made up of a desirable destination for investment.  The videos highlight the County’s strengths including its location at the crossroads of Ontario’s most vital highways and rail systems as well as an emerging center of growth in Southwestern Ontario.

“The County is proud to support the efforts of the local area municipalities in their Economic Development investment attraction initiatives and we congratulate them on their success” says Marcus Ryan, Warden of Oxford County.  “Oxford County is an ideal location for so many businesses, industries and people and this series explains why in a compelling and impactful way”

The accomplishment is the result of collaboration between the 3 urban and 5 rural townships in Oxford County, which are funded by the County to support the investment attraction objectives of the lower tier municipalities.  The Rural Oxford Economic Development Corporation (ROEDC) led the video series portion of the collaboration, which was funded in part by Ontario’s Rural Economic Development program.

This project is a collaboration between Rural Oxford, the Towns of Ingersoll and Tillsonburg, the City of Woodstock, the South-Central Ontario Region Economic Development Corporation, and Future Oxford..

“Celebrating Ontario’s economic development leaders who leverage their unique ideas to highlight their communities is what the EDCO Awards of Excellence program is all about,” said Sean Dyke, EDCO 2023 President. “Sharing these award-winning projects provides an opportunity to learn and grow economic development across Ontario.”

The award presentation took place on February 9, 2023 at the EDCO President's Dinner and Awards Ceremony in Toronto, Ontario.

To view the videos, go to the Oxford Connection website at https://www.oxfordconnection.ca/.

A complete list of 2022 award recipients can be found on the EDCO website at www.edco.on.ca .

For more information contact:

Len Magyar
President, Oxford Connection
lmagyar@cityofwoodstock.ca
(519) 539-2382 ext. 2112