Following a successful career serving in executive roles in the telecommunications industry, former Sudburian Mike Milinkovich retired to Black River-Matheson, 68 kilometres east of Timmins. Eager to apply his skills and experience to the challenge of economic diversification, he served as mayor of Black-River Matheson from 2006 to 2014.
In this video, Mike describes the challenge of pursuing progressive economic development initiatives in a small Northern Ontario community with a local political elite resistant to change and suspicious of outsiders.
Motivated by a New York Times article predicting the Northern Ontario Claybelt would replace the U.S. Midwest as the continent’s breadbasket by 2050, Mike welcomed 50 Mennonite families from southwestern Ontario to Black River-Matheson beginning in 2012, reversing a decline of agriculture caused by the lure of higher paying jobs in the mining industry and the outmigration of youth.
Attracted by inexpensive, high-quality agricultural land, the Mennonites have had a huge impact on the community, establishing thriving farms and businesses including a general store, abattoirs, furniture and culvert manufacturing enterprises and a farmer’s market.
They are growing feed grains, root vegetables, berries, corn and quinoa, and are raising beef cattle, dairy cattle, goats, sheep and bison.
With global warming and the increasing cost of land in southern Ontario, Mike is convinced that the Northern Ontario Claybelt stretching from the Quebec border to Kapuskasing and beyond has the potential to make a much greater contribution to the economy of Northern Ontario in the decades to come. He shares several ideas for promoting the Claybelt’s potential through agricultural symposia, case studies and promotional outreach.