Three Windsor companies want to entice "independent thinkers" to move to Windsor.
Brave Control Solutions, Next Dimensions and Centerline are behind a video that's advertising Windsor as a great place to live and work.
The fast-paced video touts the city as: "The beginning of Canada. One of the most diverse cities in Canada"
And it's cheeky, challenging Windsor's mediocre reputation as a cool and fun place to live.
"There's always someone. You know, that kind of jumps to conclusions, doesn't do their research. But fortunately, that's not you," said the video.
Excellent place to raise a family
"What we found is Windsor does a very good job of advertising for tourism, advertising for our exportability and what a manufacturing presence we have, but there was nothing really out there that demonstrated the lifestyle," said Brent McPhail, president of Brave Control Solutions. "What we're trying to demonstrate with this is that Windsor's actually a very excellent place to raise a family."
The video promotes the comparatively low house prices in Windsor, as well as its proximity to Detroit's cultural centre and international airport.
And, of course, it highlights the number of job opportunities in Windsor-Essex.
"Between Windsor and Detroit, there's about 3,300 automation companies and when I say that, my first question should always be, 'How many do you think there are?' because no one would guess that," said McPhail. "I boldly state that we're the automation capital of North America and possibly of the world."
If you're an automation engineer anywhere in Ontario, you need to get down to Windsor.- Brent McPhail, president of Brave Control Solutions
"If you're an automation engineer anywhere in Ontario, you need to get down to Windsor," he said.
The video ends by inviting people to come for a visit and, bring along a friend — "You know the one."
The target audience, according to Larry Koscielski, isn't necessarily the prospective employee. "It could also be the moms and the dads, or wife or girlfriend or boyfriend. You need to sell the area on everybody," said the vice president of process and technology development at Centerline. "You could say that moms and dads shouldn't have a say but, they do."