Talking the concept of united we stand, divided we fall, the Greater Dufferin Chamber of Commerce came to Orangeville Council Monday night with a marketing plan that would involve the whole of Dufferin County.

Currently, the various municipalities are promoting themselves through economic development offices and other such initiatives.

Former chamber president Ron Munro, speaking on behalf of the chamber, presented council with a 90-page marketing strategy for the county covering 2010 to 2014.

He explained that chamber members and other area business people came up with the idea for such a strategy a year ago. “There was a growing sense that Dufferin County was losing out, due to lack of centralized economic development. A number of municipalities don’t have the resources and personnel and cannot fill an economic development role.”

The strategy’s executive summary explains that the Dufferin Marketing Initiative is collaborative project involving the economic development committees of Shelburne, Orangeville and Amaranth, as well as the Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association and the Headwaters Communities in Action.

Its purpose is to coordinate the effective marketing of Dufferin to businesses and entrepreneurs, which the report says will help attract new business, industries and jobs to the county.

Mr. Munro’s recommendation was not wholeheartedly accepted by councillors, however. Councillor Mary Rose sensed a “disconnect” when it came to the economic strategy of Orangeville and other Dufferin municipalities. She pointed out that Orangeville’s growth plans place an emphasis on sports and tourism, whereas the Dufferin Marketing Initiative pushes agri-business.

Mr. Munro countered that the “opportunity to leverage the whole county far outweighs any imbalance.” He also presented the logic that the more prosperous a county municipality is, the more likely that its residents will boost the tourism of Orangeville.

Ms. Rose also presented her concerns that the initiative could be construed as “putting the cart before the horse,” saying it will be marketing an overall county business plan before one actually exists.

Councillor Gary Kocialek, on the other hand, applauded the initiative. “What’s good for the county is good for Orangeville and viceversa,” he said.

The Dufferin Marketing Initiative will be a groundbreaking one, of sorts, since the report itself acknowledges, “in the political structure of Dufferin County, the upper tier does not have planning authority.”

It goes on to point out that the county’s recently completed growth management study, based in part on the province’s Places to Grow policy statement, indicates that Dufferin will need to create 6,000 new jobs by 2031.

“To achieve these targets, a coordinated and concerted effort is needed by the county as a whole to realize this job creation goal,” the initiative report says.

Mr. Munro told council the county would be asked to provide $150,000 for the project in 2011. He said some of the funding would go toward hiring one person on a yearly contract basis.