Clark Hoskin is passionate about rural communities, local food, agriculture, tourism and the collaboration required to pull off effective economic development initiatives.

Clark’s career includes 25 years as a practitioner in tourism and economic development in southern Ontario, Canada:

• Destination Development: Senior Manager in Deloitte LLP’s Economic Advisory practice, working in communities across Canada on tourism, economic development, and corporate strategic planning projects.
• Strategic Planning: Oversight of three strategic plan reviews (2002, 2010, 2018) to prepare and revise directions for economic prosperity in Norfolk County, including persuasion of Council in 2003 to grow the complement of the Department, demonstrating conceptual thinking skills, problem solving ability, flexibility and teamwork ability
• Embracing Change: Leadership of Department program change through decline of tobacco production (2005-06), economic downturn (2008-09), new opportunities in business (attraction of Toyotetsu, 2007), tourism and agriculture (support and promotion of wineries and breweries, 2008-2020), demonstrating interpersonal skills, diplomacy and tact, and flexibility
• Growth Initiatives: Conceptual development and team support of destination marketing and development initiatives, including implementation of Marketing Partnership Program (resulting in over $1 million in private-sector contributions to municipal budget over 10 years, from a group of businesses that grew from 0 to 285) and Community Improvement Plan business incentives (resulting in additional private/public investment in business prosperity), demonstrating creativity, collaboration, self-management, personal accountability, leadership and teamwork abilities
• Award-Winning Outcomes: Responsible for positive outcomes garnering awards for Norfolk County: Best Technology & New Media (blogger outreach, 2015), Award for Regionalism and Cross-Border Collaboration (Finger Lakes Study Tour, 2015), Best Public-Private Partnership (Mumford & Sons, 2014), Best Community Branding (Ontario’s Garden, 2012), Best Innovative Technology (social media network, 2009) and others
• Positive Relationships with Elected Representatives: Direct involvement on regional initiatives (SCOR, Western Ontario Wardens Caucus) and collaborative working relationships with numerous Mayors and Councillors involved in external organizations and special projects; frequent presentations to Norfolk County Council on policy matters, budget review, program review, and other topics; interactions with provincial and federal politicians and staff
• Department Management: Management and coaching of four full-time staff (two non-union, two unionized members) and three summer staff to achieve targets set personally and by senior leadership, elected officials, and community partners. Ongoing tweaking of programming, based on feedback and metrics, demonstrating leadership and personal accountability. Check out the 2019 Annual Report
• Lifelong Learner: Conceived, planned and executed study tours of the Finger Lakes region of New York State for farmers and tourism operators in Norfolk County, developed itineraries, arranged speakers, transport and hotel, escorted two groups of 40+ participants
• Community, Collaborative Engagement: Development and delivery of effective community engagement tools (subscriber-based databases and targeted stakeholder messaging), collaborative programming (annual economic development symposium, Team Norfolk champions, partner focus groups) and unique services
• Accomplished Communicator: Writing, blogging, editing, photography, public speaking and live broadcasting for work-related marketing and promotional tactics: writing and editing publications (tourism guides, investment profiles, cookbooks, brochures), websites and social media (email newsletters, facebook, twitter, Instagram) and trade shows and conferences
• Sharing with Others: Presented at several economic development and tourism conferences (Economic Developers Council of Ontario, Ontario West Municipal Conference, Southwest Ontario Tourism Conference) on topics related to leading-edge rural issues
• Emergency Management: In the role of Emergency Information Officer, responsible for developing and releasing information to general public and news media. Experience includes various exercises and the real-life situations
• Mentoring: As a mentor in Norfolk County’s mentorship program, provided coaching on various soft skills for mentees, such as having difficult conversations, project management, business strategy
• Staff Liaison to Advisory Boards:  Supported the Norfolk County Agricultural Advisory Board and the Norfolk County Tourism & Economic Development Advisory Board.
• Regional Collaborations:  Clark co-chaired the transition team for the nine-county/city Regional Tourism Organization in Southwestern Ontario Tourism region, coordinated a transitional budget provided by the Ministry of Tourism, and supervised consultants undertaking several priority projects. As a member of the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) Council for Southwest Ontario Tourism Corp., provided feedback and intelligence to the regional tourism organization to enhance its efficiency and service to the regional tourism industry. He was also a member of the Administrative Working Group for SCOR, representing Economic Development Offices across the region, provide support to SCOR staff to help move forward objectives of the municipally-owned organization.

Clark grew up on a farm in Haldimand County and studied at York University. He has worked in Tourism and Economic Development for more than 25 years, first in Haldimand-Norfolk, then Cambridge, then for the Southern Ontario Tourism Organization, and before working for Norfolk County, where he focused on building community partnerships and promoting the area to increase investment in industrial development, agricultural diversification, and tourism visits and expenditures.

He served as Co-Chair of the transition team that established the Southwest Ontario Tourism Corporation, and chaired the Ontario’s South Coast Tourism Alliance, which includes motorcycle-friendly communities from Dunnville to Windsor. He also worked on the planning team that brought Mumford & Sons’ Gentlemen of the Road to Norfolk County in 2013. Clark is a member of the Economic Developers Council of Ontario, the Economic Development Association of Canada, and the International Economic Development Council. He is also certified as an Economic Development Professional.

He and wife own and operate Cider Keg Farm Market near Vittoria, Ontario. Clark enjoys writing and travel.