UWindsor academics will join local business and labour leaders for a half-day forum Thursday, May 15, to consider ways to compete in the global marketplace.

Sponsored by the University, the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce and Unifor, the Policy and Solutions Forum is unprecedented, says chamber president Matt Marchand.

“This is the coming together of business, labour and academia in a non-partisan way to bring ideas into the community,” Marchand says. “Such an undertaking as far we can tell has not been attempted on this scale by a local chamber.”

Sessions of about an hour each will explore four issues— Business and Labour: Perceptions and Reality; Energy Costs: How to Address Higher Power Costs; Tax Base Challenges: Other Communities’ Successes; and Investing in Our Future: Infrastructure, Emerging Sectors, Skills.

Among the UWindsor participating panelists are political science professor Cheryl Collier, Cross-Border Institute director William Anderson and vice-president research and innovation Michael Siu.

Allan Conway, dean of the Odette School of Business, says the forum exemplifies the role his faculty can play in economic development: “We are pleased to partner with the chamber and labour community in this timely and important forum and we look forward to the outcomes.”

The forum runs 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Caboto Club, 2175 Parent Avenue. Tickets are $50; register online at www.windsorchamber.org.