But the lure has to be more than family ties – there must be a lifestyle attraction. The city has a spectacular natural location, a symphony orchestra and a rich diversity of restaurants, but, as with most old industrial cities, there are areas of empty shops and deserted streets.
The city is tackling that problem with efforts to put public buildings, including a new courthouse, into some of the most run-down areas of the old Fort William. On the other side of town, there is the research cluster and new life on the old waterfront, with development under way for condos and a luxury hotel, along with a refurbished marina and space for artists.
But Thunder Bay competes in a talent marketplace where coveted workers can live and work anywhere. For example, Tornado, although founded by a Thunder Bay medical scientist and employing a growing engineering team in the city, has a major office in Toronto – close to the health sciences hub on University Avenue – and a research and development arm in Ithaca, N.Y., home of Cornell University.
Location is important, Thunder Bay officials agree, but it can be trumped by the opportunity to work on an exciting project. Steve Demmings, chief executive officer of the local economic development corporation, insists the concept of isolation is no longer as relevant. You can live anywhere and plug into a wired global knowledge network, he says.
Perhaps the biggest imperative in Thunder Bay is developing entrepreneurial drive – to find people who will follow the model of Dr. Bob Thayer, 74, a former Olympic wrestling coach who retired almost a decade ago from teaching bio-molecular science at the university.
He and a colleague started tossing around the idea of a new company to harness the properties of mitochondrial DNA. After long evenings – often at the fabled Bar Italia restaurant in meetings with local investors – they built Mitomics, whose first product is a more accurate test for prostate cancer.
Dr. Thayer still sits on the board while the company is now run by a professional manager. This fall, Mitomics is reviewing options which may include an initial public offering.
Today, the indefatigable Dr. Thayer can be found at another of his creations, the Lake Superior Centre for Regenerative Medicine, a non-profit tissue bank.
“There is nothing more exciting – and that gets your heartbeat going – than business,” he says. “It’s the most exciting thing I’ve done.”
