CEO Saäd Rafi to address Economic and Social Legacy of PanAm Games As Well As Related Topics at Board of Trade Distinguished Speaker Series Lunch
Next Monday, June 1st – 12 noon – First Canadian Place

PAN AM AHEAD: Toronto 2015 Pan Am / ParaPan Am Games CEO Saäd Rafi will discuss the games’ economic legacy at a Toronto Region Board of Trade event on June 1.

By Dennis Kucherawy, Corktown Resident

In just a little over seven weeks … on Friday, July 10th … history will be made when Canada’s largest multi-sport event ever explodes throughout Toronto and Southern Ontario.

Excitement is mounting as the opening ceremony for the VII PanAm/ParaPan Games draw closer, uniting athletes and visitors from the world in an exciting celebration of excellence and achievement.

Three times larger than Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics, the Games are projected to have a huge economic impact on Southern Ontario, reports the Toronto Board of Trade (BOT) in its recently released Toronto as a Global City: 2015 Scorecard on Prosperity.

Using statistics from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), BOT projects the games will attract a quarter-of-a-million visitors and will generate $3.7 billion in new economic activity and create approx. 26,000 new jobs in the Greater Toronto/Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Now, next Monday, June 1st at a .Board of Trade Distinguished Speaker Series Lunch, the Games’ CEO, Saäd Rafi, will discuss further the event’s expected economic and social legacy and describe, as BOT says, “the flurry of activity taking place” as the opening ceremony approaches.

He will explain the challenges of welcoming 10,000 athletes, coaches and officials, 250,000 visitors and the logistics in accommodating 1.4 million ticket holders.

And, perhaps of most importance to Corktowners, he will review the many opportunities for businesses and residents.

Significantly, he’ll share advice on how everyone… especially sports fans…can make the most of the Games so they will have a summer they’ll always remember.

Saäd Rafi’s Board of Trade address is a timely opportunity to learn more about the Games, especially, as the OCC forecasts, how the short-term economic boom created could potentially have longer-term benefits.

In the cover story of the Spring 2015 issue of BOT’s magazine ONBOARD, Mr. Rafi said the Games “represent the largest one-time investment in sports infrastructure ever in the province. The positive effects of this have been widely discussed – and debated – with the government estimating a $3.7 billion uptick to the GDP over a seven year period.”

The Toronto Board of Trade’s Toronto as a Global City: 2015 Scorecard on Prosperity quotes the OCC, saying “if successfully executed (the Games) will stimulate “long-term and sustainable benefits for Ontario’s economy and businesses “

BOT has called for Ontario businesses, especially medium and small-sized, to capitalize on the many exporting opportunities available throughout the world. So it’s a serendipitous time for Ontario business as so many visitors from the Americas and the world arrive in Ontario and learn about the enormous potential Toronto offers.

For more information about BOT and to order a copy of the Toronto as a Global City: 2015 Scorecard on Prosperity, visit www.bot.com.

Date: Monday, Jun 1, 2015
Time: 12 noon to 1:30 p.m.
Registration and Networking: 11:30 a.m.

Location:

Toronto Region Board of Trade
Downtown Centre
First Canadian Place, 4th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
Phone: 416-336-6811

Ticket Information:

Prices (Individual) – Member $79; Non-member $99; Table of 8 – Member $632; Non-member $792

To order tickets, click here.

Dennis Kucherawy is a long-time resident of Corktown. If he told you how long, you’d wonder how a 19-year-old could live there for so many years.