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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBusiness & Ind - 1994-04-14BIAC\1994-04-14 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1994 PRESENT: Mike Hiscott (Chah'), Martha George, Dan Beach, Tito Guglielmi, David lqYeure, Roger Downer, Claude Schneider, John Tibbits, Councillor Carl Zeht; and Coucillor Mike Wagner, ALSO PRESENT: Valerie Gibaut~ and George Borovilos REGRETS: Atso Saarkoppel, Councillor Chtqstina Weylie, Wayne Hussey, and Jim McCutcheon RECORDER: Sandy Curzon Economic Twinning Nell Richardson, Chah' of Waterloo Economic Development Committee adch'essed Committee on the advantages of doing business in New York State. He explained that the Great Lakes States is a large market with relatively short h'avelling distance making it aVa'active for local businesses which are interested in increasing theh' export~ All of the Great Lakes States businesses are interested in doing more business in Canada~ Nell feels that the best potential is in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany and has been building knowledge and relationships to estabish h~st and credibility. He noted that pubhc sector relationships need to be established and nurtured, also academic relationships, as there is h'emendous potential He advised that the GDP of New York State is $300 billion, with a population of 18 millio~ C. Zehr and J. Tibbits entered meeting Syracuse Univm$ity now has a cenh'e for commercialization of software technologies with numerous spin-off companies and jobs generated. New York City k making a proposal to the State to fund an incubator office for software companies, of which there are L500 in the State. The Environmental sector k sh'ong in Waterloo Region and there are opportunities for those companies in New York State. M~'. Richardson has spent the past year and a hall' h'avelling to the Great Lakes States approximately every mont]~ He feels there is a real possibility for local companies to enter the U.S. market by fhst estabhshing relationship~ He has invited V. Gibaut to accompany him on his next trip at which time Da'. A~ Carty from the Univm$ity of Waterloo and ~V[r. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Don Haycock from Conestoga Rovers, will also be going to meet with theh' counterparts in Syracuse. He cautioned however, that the process takes a great deal of time and we cannot expect to see results within a quickly. John Tibbits intbrmed the Committee of the relationship that Conestoga College has with U.S. Unive~sitie~ With the "Articulation Agreements" in place, students from the college on graduation, can attend 3rd or 4th year levek at the respective U.S. Universities to obtain a degree. At the present time there are two agreements in place, with Syracuse in the wing~ It was suggested that V. Gibaut meet with the Dean of Business at the College to discuss this further. As the College k ah'eady heavily involved in the Great Lakes States, theh' staff might be interested in participating in the next t~qp also. D. lqYeure entered meeting V. Gibaut will accompany M~'. Richardson on the next taqp to Syracuse to estabhsh contacts with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and to build relationships with economic development official~ While ~Vh'. Richardson was still in attendance, C. Zehi' asked if another joint meeting between WEI)C, BIAC and theh' respective CAO's would be taking place. He felt there was a need to recall such a meeting, Mike Hiscott agreed to chah' and Kitchener would host. V. Gibaut will investigate this possibility. N. Richardson and R. Downer left the meeting Minutes of March 10, 1994 The minutes of March 10, 1994 were adopted. 3. Municipal Plan Review Bin Newell, Senior Planner for the City of Kitchener gave a brief presentation on the Municipal Plan which was adopted by Kitchener City Council March ~8, 1994. It k expected to get Regional approval by summer of '94. Economic Development Division April 14, 1994. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES An effort was made to make the report more inviting by changing the title and involving pubhc input along with city council departments, and special interest group~ The report took 1 12 years to complete and will be revised every 5 years~ For public input~ a pamphlet accompanied by a questionnaire was sent to residential homes in the community inviting them to participate in the Plan and 'Visions' workshop was held for professionals to give their input. The end result is a document made simpler. M~ NeweH reviewed the index of the plan and gave a brief overview of what each section containeck The new plan is people oriented and directional where the old one was too regulatory. The new plan also incorporated the SeweH Commission recommendation~ The new plan will be available in the public hbrary for public use, or it can be purchased at $50. per copy. Committee questioned whether or not the new pohcy allows for growth to an existing business to expand on an existing site - further cla~qfication was required depending on the location of the busines~ Economic Development Activities b) c) A breald'ast meeting was held on March 23rd with a target audience of business people with a German background~ It was extremely well attended, with a presentation also from the VCB. The intbrmation provided by staff prompted much interaction and questions from the group. Economic Development has placed ads in Trade & Commerce, Report on Business Magazine as well as the Chamber of Commerce directory, Walper Hotel directory and Jr. Achievement. A recent article p~qnted in the New York Times provided Cl~ with good recognitio~ (article attached). It has since been discovered with the same article has been p~qnted in the International Herald Tribune and the LA~ Time~ V. Gibaut advised that Peter Barnes, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade for the PRovincial Government~ will be meeting with the Regional CAO's and Economic Development Division April 14, 1994. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES e) George left Economic Development staff on Ap~4l 20t]~ This meeting is a follow-up to a meeting held in Queen's Park a few months ago at which time Larry Smith's Dynamic PI'ofile was shared with Government official~ The meeting will provide an opportunity for us to elaborate on some of our successful activities with respect to and Regional initiative~ V. Gibaut will report back to the Committee at the next meeting. Home Builders Association will be hosting a luncheon with Diane l~'ancis of the Financial Post on Ap~4l 27, 1994. Those wishing to attend are to advise V. Gibaut~ A table has been reserved for this luncheom the meeting George Borovilos indicated that the GRCA regulatory floodline has affected, in varying degrees, several properties in Huron Business ParlL The two most affected sites, are Site 95 (Emco Site) and Site 98 (KSK lqYaming Const~q~ction Site). He cited that any additional costs of const~q~ction to compensate for the floodline could jeopardize both developments because of the tight development costs budgeted for these two project~ Staff will continue to monitor these projects with GRCA~ Mike Wagner left the meeting Economic Development Division April 14, 1994. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES g) The issue of development charges was mentioned, as staff have been requested to defer charges for a particular local business expansiom The matter was discussed with staff from both Legal and Finance who agreed to a deferral of up to one year on condition that interest was paid on the outstanding charge~ Meeting adjourned 1:06 pm Next Meeting: Thursday, May IQ, 1994 11:00 mm. - 1:00 p.m. Conestoga College ~99 Doon Valley Drive Kitchener City Hall Economic Development Division April 14, 1994.