The road to economic prosperity is paved green.

That's the pitch the town's business and political leaders will hear at an economic summit next week. The Great Lakes region already has at its fingertips the tools and knowledge to break out of its economic doldrums, says a report from the Great Lakes Economic Initiative, which is based at the Brookings Institute, a Washington, D.C., think-tank.

John Austin, director of the initiative, will be a keynote speaker at the Amherstburg Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday, June 13.

Austin, who also teaches in the school of architecture and planning at the University of Michigan, is expected to outline how the automotive belt can become good stewards of the environment, but also use its expertise to plunge into such expanding fields as alternative energy, health science, materials and communications.

The chamber is also looking at new ways to bring jobs back to Amherstburg, said Rennie Rota, a chamber board director.

"We've lost General Chemical, we've lost a lot of big employers," Rota said. "We haven't replaced them with anything. We've become a bedroom community that is totally reliant on Windsor and Essex County for employment. We are looking at developing alternative energy sources as a way to get jobs."

GREEN REVOLUTION

It's not clear if the town is ready for a green revolution. Businessman Lori Collazino ran into considerable opposition with his proposal to turn toxic General Chemical lands into a wind farm. Due to the acrimony, he is now considering building a solar farm instead.

"Solar is so unobtrusive," he said. "The (neighbours) don't want it in their backyard. The land is industrial. Would you rather have passive solar or heavy industrial projects?"

Collazino said it would cost about $300 million to build the solar farm, which would generate many jobs.

While some towns in the county have set up their own rules on wind farms, all are waiting for countywide policies that go to county council for approval on Wednesday. More than a dozen wind farm projects have been proposed, but there is also considerable resident opposition.

Amherstburg residents recently protested against wind farms at a town council meeting saying they lower property values and are noisy.

Town council recently put together its economic development plan and it makes no mention of encouraging the growth of green industries. The report proposed focusing on the town's core strengths of tourism, its downtown and niche retail and business retention.

"The report said we need to focus on the assets we do have," said Pam Malott, acting chief administrative officer. "The overall goal is to attract and develop new business."