YKNOT WINDSOR-ESSEX RELEASES RECIPE TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE TIED HOME

WINDSOR, ON - July 07, 2014 - YKNOT Windsor-Essex, our regional youth attraction & retention project, released a six-piece YouTube video series (YouTube.com/yknotwe) that describes the changes our local young talent wants to see in the region. 

The video series is a follow-up to the Your City, Your Ideas (#YCYI) event held on June 26, where seventy-five young people imagined their ideal Windsor-Essex.

The top three priorities from each of the five issues discussed that evening are highlighted below.

PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

INTEGRATION OF COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY WITH COMMUNITY

1. Encourage local paid Internships and co-op positions.
2. Highlight locally relevant content in curriculum.
3. Incentivize employers to hire recent grads.

DOWNTOWN LIFE  

1. Invest in the diversification of riverfront development.
2. Lower tax rates for businesses located in the city centre.
3. Diversify business types by recruiting more retail, especially a grocery store.

PUBLIC TRANSIT  

1. Implement a regional transit system that connects Windsor & Essex County.

2. De-stigmatize bus ridership.
3. Establish a robust bike transit system.

CROSS-BORDER PARTNERSHIPS  

1. Share, plan, and cross-promote events and assets on both sides of the border.
2. Expand international transit options.
3. Develop an international healthcare hub.

"Our community conversation resulted in a very clear agenda from the minds of Windsor-Essex's young people," said Dan Brown, coordinator of YKNOT Windsor-Essex, "These findings inform our project, decision-makers, and the public as we continue to build up Windsor-Essex's talent pipeline."