HomeMy WebLinkAboutEDAC - 2016-02-24
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
February 24th, 2016 City of Kitchener
The Economic Development Advisory Committee met on this date, chaired by Paul Singh with the following members
present: Mark Hopkins, Johanna Classon-Romero, Mark Bingeman, Adrian Conrad, Scott Davey, Philip Jones, Jamie
Yantzi, Bil Ioannidis, and Glenn Koehler.
Staff in attendance: Brian Bennett, Silvia Di Donato, Emily Robson, Kim Feere, Thom Ryan, Mistie Brown, Eowyn
Spencer
Discussion Items
Agenda items were shuffled to accommodate timing and to ensure quorum was met prior to Arts & Culture
presentation
Information Items/Unfinished Business
1. Rod Regier provided a brief presentation on his current work with UN Habitat III. Rod has been collaborating
over the last few months with a team of 20 individuals to build a set of policy papers with the intent of building
a strong statement for global economic development. The policy papers will be finalized for use as key
documents at The New Urban Agenda in Quinto later in 2016. Draft issue papers and more information
regarding UN Habitat projects are available online at www.habitat3.org.
2. Rod provided an update on the Waterloo Region/Toronto corridor, noting that Mayor Tory in Toronto has
become a strong advocate for the
to build stronger connections. Mayors Tory and Vrbanovic will be speaking at multiple upcoming events to
build interest on the subject. The Mayors will also be leading a group of local economic development leaders
to Silicon Valley to meet with Canadian expats and key players in the tech industry to build relationships and
to update these people of the changes happening along the corridor.
Also of note, VIA rail officials have announced the addition an 8:45 am wi-fi enabled westbound train from
Toronto to Kitchener. The train will be a 90 minute run, with a return service at 3:45 pm. While this is not
exactly a commuter service, the run is a marked improvement from the current service.
Note: During e members joined the meeting and quorum was met.
th
3. Motion to accept the minutes of January 27 was carried.
4. Emily Robson and Silvia Di Donato provided a presentation representing the need for an arts hub in the
City. Outlined was data from other municipalities, current available city-owned space, and several
attached for further details. Discussion was raised following the presentation, key highlights include:
Sparking innovation between art and tech sectors
Artists finding new uses for tech, and needing affordable spaces to practice, create, and perform
Making the best use of community resources and current city-owned spaces artists are willing to
pay for space provided
Supporting local maker culture is a positive for local economic development
The discussion wrapped up and Councillor Singh stated that hard data should correlate to the specific request,
and the team should be realistic to the need based on our municipality.
EDACFeb2016-E.pdf
On motion, the meeting adjourned at 1 p.m.
Eowyn Spencer
Committee Administrator