As the region prepares for a new electric vehicle battery production plant, a new mega hospital and work on the Gordie Howe Bridge continues, the construction industry is bracing for a busy future.
In fact, it's already busy, as local officials say the region is experiencing record construction going on right now in different areas.
Windsor Construction Association executive director Jim Lyons says last week's news is going to bring lots of direct and indirect jobs which is good, but there are some concerns with an aging work force.
"Am I nervous about supplying? I think all of us are, I mean there's already record construction in the region going on. Combining that with this new announcement is kind of nerve wracking but will we get it done? Sure, there will be no question it's going to get done."
With the battery plant in particular the need is right away to get going.
Lyons says the actual facility itself needs to be constructed, which is going to be a massive undertaking, but it's even bigger than that when you factor in everything that will be involved.
"It's a huge structure on its own, and then you have all the infrastructure to get to and from that facility. Obviously E.C. Row has been there, but they're talking about expansion of some of the arterial roads nearby to connect to the county. And those have been long awaited as well, but at the end of the day there's a lot to be done in a short period of time in order to get those people up and running," he said.
There will likely be some issues when it comes to housing for those who will be coming to fill the jobs, according to Lyons, but he says that's a better problem to have than if there were no new jobs coming to the area.
"I remember back when I first started here and the casino was under construction and at the same time we had some big investments from Ford out in the east end," he continued." The word will get out and for some of those longer term good paying jobs people will actually come here and relocate from other parts of Canada, it happened before it'll happen again."
Lyons says the local school boards have been supporting construction programs over the last few years, which has led to more young people getting jobs but that to comes with challenges.
"The challenge though is when you bring apprentices in and you load up with apprentices, those are unskilled workers and it takes some time before they really learn the field and their trade. When you drop a big project like this on top of you, you can't get it done with apprentices, you need to have skilled workers. So that's where we're going to try and draw from outside the region."
Lyons says it's essential to have more young people joining the trades, and to attract younger skilled workers as well, because many in the local construction industry are aging or retiring.
- with files from AM800's The Morning Drive