Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutEDAC - 2017-01-25 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES January 25, 2017 City of Kitchener The Economic Development Advisory Committee met on this date with the following members present: Councillors Bil Ioannidis, Paul Singh and Scott Davey, Jeremy Auger, Mark Bingeman, Mark Paleczny, Anthony Zammitt, Barry Lowry, Sandra O’Hagan, Barclay Whittaker, Margaret Johnson, Andrew Head and Johanna Classon-Romero Staff in attendance: Brian Bennett, Janet MacDonald, Cory Bluhm, Thom Ryan and Tracey Murray Business Items 1. Welcome and Introductions Cory Bluhm welcomed the new group and thanked them for volunteering. The committee members introduced themselves and provided a brief overview of their particular areas of expertise. Mr. Bluhm advised that the committee would be involved in three main areas over the next two years, namely, staff initiated projects that have potential economic impact, council initiatives that may come forward where council is looking for motions in support / non-support, and the committee choosing three items from the Make it Kitchener strategy to do as project work. 2. Advisory Committee Orientation Dianna Saunderson, provided the committee with an overview of their roles and responsibilities as committee members. She also advised on protocol when dealing with the public and / or media. 3. Economic Development Overview Brian Bennett provided an overview and short history on Economic Development, including the creation and economic impact of the now complete Economic Development Investment Fund, the committee was also provided with a brief overview of the labour force data. Janette MacDonald provided an overview of the labour force survey outlining what is included in the survey and how we use the information to look at the long term trends of the information. She advised that the 2016 snapshot shows the 284,000 people were actively employed and the unemployment rate overall was 5%. Our unemployment rate will go up because our region and city create an environment that people want to work in so there is generally a draw to working in the area which creates a sense of a larger unemployment rate. We have experienced a shift in the employment types within the region. Manufacturing is still the largest employer but there is a much more diverse balance. Committee members expressed interest in knowing the wage data for the region / city and were advised the comparison for this data is done provincially not locally but that data could be pulled and analyzed should the need arise. Brian Bennett advised that in 2004 council was faced with the decision to encourage and invest in strategic projects to move forward the economy in the downtown. This is why the Economic Development Investment Fund (EDIF) was created – three projects kicked off the $110 million dollar investment in the core with the Wilfrid Laurier School of Social Work, the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy and the Degroot McMaster School of Medicine. This investment kicked off private sector investment namely the redevelopment of the vacant Kaufman Rubber Factory into the Kaufman Lofts and subsequent private sector investments followed. In 2009 the city also invested $500,000 into Communitech, which at the time was a small organization looking to grow and expand with this initial investment allowing Communitech to leverage additional investment from the Provincial and Federal governments to develop the Tannery along with private sector investment. Mr. Bennett noted that part of the work that we do is to advance our strategy through partnerships with places like Communitech and Velocity. Last year the city invested $500,000 into Velocity and it is now the largest free incubator in the world and has doubled in size. We have also since partnered with the Accelerator Centre and Arts Build Ontario located at 44 Gaukel. Through our current strategic plan, Make it Kitchener, we are investing another $300,000 into Communitech this year to allow them to invest in their corporate innovation. This will include the city establihsing a permanent space in the Civic Innovation lab to develop even more partnerships with Communitech. Our strategy has continued to foster private sector development in residential units, coming forward this year will see approximately 500 new units, either through current construction or site plan approval. We are also in high level talks with a number of other projects. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES January 25, 2017 City of Kitchener The current challenges within economic development include two- way GO, high speed rail and continuing to support the downtown core. The committee engaged in discussion and provided the following feedback: - How do we cooperate and work with the Region, Waterloo and Cambridge on joint initiatives / competition? We have a regional mandate and a number of groups overlap. We have external organizations such as the Waterloo Region Tourism Office, Communitech and the Waterloo Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Each city has their own mandate to focus on their individual strategic plans. The WEDC has a mandate to not only provide foreign direct investment for the region but working with each municipality to support their growth. - Kitchener has had a brand issue globally and that needs to be adjusted and focused on. The need to promote Waterloo Region as a brand globally and the corridor. - When tourism is done right it not only caters to the local community but draws interest from people in other cities too. - The financial sector has also suffered from regulations as well as the new cap and trade. - Planning act issues and residents in the suburbs and how to get these people to ride the ION 3. Make it Kitchener Janette MacDonald provided a brief overview of the Make it Kitchener (MiK) strategy and lead a discussion surrounding select initiatives that could form the committee work plan for the next two year. Work plan items - Explore additional maker space - Support professional development in UX - Support development of maker lab - Explore options for pop up retail - Explore food incubator / coworkers - Support manufacturing through MIN - Support urban and suburban retail - Champion the adoption of ION by the business community The committee had an opportunity to individually chose their four top choices that would help form the work plan, with their interest as follows: - Support Development of Maker Lab - Explore Food Incubator / Coworkers - Explore option for pop up retail - Champion the adoption of ION Tracey Murray will send the committee an option to rank each identified initiative in order of preference, staff will form working groups for each sector. 4. Selection of Co-Chairs Committee members were offered to self-nominate or nominate a fellow member to serve as Chair / Co-Chair. The members nominated and voted unanimously to re-elect Councillor Paul Singh and Jeremy Auger to serve as Co-Chairs. On motion, the meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES January 25, 2017 City of Kitchener Tracey Murray Committee Administrator