Pupatello talks about 1st year as economic development CEO

Sandra Pupatello has been the CEO of the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation for little more than a year.

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The former MPP and Liberal cabinet minister was announced in May of last year.

Given her resume, she was thought to be well-suited to the position.

She was a Liberal MPP for 16 years, and she held several cabinet portfolios during that time, including Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

A week ago, on CBC's Windsor Morning, municipal affairs columnist Cheryl Collier gave Sandra Pupatello a middling grade.

One of the things she pointed to was the rising unemployment rate in Windsor, which has risen from 6.9 per cent in January to 8.6 per cent in May this year alone.

"When you look at the economic development corporation and what it can do, you can’t tie it’s function to the employment or unemployment rate," Pupatello said. "The economy is a function of lots of external forces and internal ones, about how we pitch to the world and what’s prepared to come here.

"t would be like saying as Ministry of Industry, I was responsible for the recession. It would be ridiculous."

Pupatello said there is a variety of reasons companies choose one place over another, including tax rates or “a bag of money that someone threw at them.”

"When, ultimately, they may choose another region, I need to know why that is," Pupateloo said. "I expect to report that to my board and say, ‘here’s why they didn’t come here.’"

To hear all of Pupatello's thoughts, click the audio box above.