Diversification will be the primary focus as Windsor transforms its economy heading into the future.
On Monday, council heard from nearly 20 delegates from all sectors offering up advice on "Windsor Works" — a report put together by United Kingdom based consulting firm Public First.
The report takes a deep dive into how Windsor can capitalize on its current manufacturing strengths while developing new economic sectors.
Rachel Wolf helped author the study and says the Windsor Works plan focuses on four main pillars — location, infrastructure, future economy and talent.
She says the tech sector is growing and Windsor needs to get on board.
"This is not a single class that is the same size as it was 20-years, 40-years, 60-years ago. Every sector is becoming digitized and a tech sector. It's also a very different story now because of the ability to work somewhat remotely."
Wolf says the city has loads of untapped potential.
"We do not think Windsor is not taking as much coherent and consistent advantage of its potential scale in terms of the kind of talented people it can attract and what it can offer them as it could. There's actually still quite a lot more we think that you could do to cement that."
She says Windsor is not a big city, but it has big opportunities.
"Windsor is a substantial city, but it's not a huge city and it doesn't seem to us impossible for you to have serious investments in downtown and your central areas. You do need a plan to articulate to people and attracting businesses requires you to be able to tell that story."
The discussion on the Windsor Works plan spanned more than eight hours beginning in the morning and wrapping up in the evening with council ultimately giving unanimous support to the document.
The city budgeted $400,000 for the study — the exact cost is not yet known.
The full report can be found HERE.