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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBusiness & Ind - 1995-03-09BIAC\1995-03-09 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 1995 PRESENT: Mike Itiscott (Chat'), Carl Zehi; Atso Saarkoppel, Richard Lewchuk, Dan Beach, Tito Gughelmi, Martha George, Elliott Currie, Bob C~ickshanlq Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Councillor Christina Weylie, Councillor Tom Galloway ALSO PRESENT: Peter Friedman, John Whelan, Kevtn Matthews, John Whitney, Darren Shaw, A1 Way, Tom IvIcKay, Councillor Karen Redman, Valerie Gibau~ and George Borovilos REGRETS: John Tibbits, l,inda Kieswetter, David Freure and Wayne Hussey RECORDER: Sandy Curzon 1. Ministry of Economic Development and Trade Ivh'. Peter l~%dman, General Manager of Small Business and Domestic Operations and John Whelan, Manager of Business Start Up Services with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (IV[EDT) were present to give an overview of the Small Business Operations~ IVh'. l~%dman tndicated that the province has focused theh' attention on new business start- ups and partnm~hips with municipalities such as the case tn Kitchener. He then proceeded to provide a detailed historical overview of the progra~ He explained the introduction of a toll free 'hot line' which was setup tn 1985 received 1~5,000 calls tn the fh~t year. As well, a free booklet entitled Small Bttsi~ess O~tatio was published, releasing 100,000 tn its fh~t year. Seminars were then organized tn local communities across the province charging a minimttm amounk Topics focused on Business Plans and Record Keeping. As a result of these seminars, it was determined that funding was not accessible, given that the entrepreneur and bankers relationships were not put into perspective. He tndicated that the small business entrepreneur would approach the banker after they had exhausted theh' BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES resource~ The banker on the other hand were saying that they need capital Consequently, New Ventures was started, which is an investing matching program up to a ma~ximum $15,000 loam A business plan is required to qualify for the loam To date loans average 3,000 per year. He also indicated that in 1985 Sell' Help Offices were estabhshed in Kitchener and Ottawa within the existing ~V[EDT offices, utilizing existing staff. Partnerships were then established with municipalities, and the City of Kitchener came on board in 1990. Currently there are 39 centres in Ontario with kiosks and resource centres in smaller municipalitie~ There are also four self-funded centres funded 10070 by the municipality in which they are located. The goal was to get inlbrmation out to people within their own community. Research indicates a reduction in small business failure rate~ There are 160,000 enquiries; 300 seminars (8,000 attendees); 1~5 community kiosk~ If resources were available, it is estimated that ~5 new centres could be established in areas that are ah'eady targeted. New PI'ograms - 'Clea~qng the Path' have been introduced where the main element is customer service. Currently the only areas to register a business is in Toronto; where you either mail your registration form and wait 6-8 weeks for processing or register your business immediately by doing it in persom The Ministry is currently testing 15 registration centres which will focus on computerized inputting of registration inlbrmation, which cuts the response time considerably - within ~ day~ Eventually businesses, funnelling through one system, will be able to computerize all types of registration including tax requirements owed to the government of Ontario. Councillor Weyhe left the meeting ~Vh'. lq¥iedman was asked whether there were any plans in putting more people into the existing small business centres which are currently staffed by only one individual, for Economic Development Division March 9, 1995. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES example, in the case of the City of Kitchener's Sell' Help Office. Inadequate provincial resources are unavailable to supply additional staff at this time. What the Ministry would like to see more of is corporate or federal funding resources being tapped into. Currently there are 6 larger communities that have 'community partnerships'. Another way of assisting the centres is to hold ~minars where the money is reinvested back into the program~ It was determined that the businesses with 1-3 years experience don't want to get involved with the government~ I~ Matthews explained that there k currently a Sell' Help Advisory Committee established consisting of a lawyer, accountant~ four business representatives, banker, WLU rep, Conestoga College rep and himself to look at ways of getting partnerships and events to generate funds to enhance the program in IGtchener. There fhst meeting k scheduled for March 91st. Committee was asked to filter theh' questions through Kevin Matthew~ Peter lq¥ieclman, John Whelan, Tom McKay and Kevin Matthews left the meeting John Whitney, Darren Shaw entered meeting Economic Development Division March 9, 1995. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Office Space Survey ~V[r. John Whitney of Whitney Somme~eld, provided an overview of a report prepared by his fh~n, entitled "A Dynamic Region". Carl Zehi' and Councillor Redman entered meeting He covered a variety of topics ranging from historical land absoq~tion rates and vacancy rates tn the tndust~qal, office and retail markets of Waterloo Regiom Some of the specific points raised included: Industrial Market impact of development charges on tndust~qal land sales impact of ristng land prices tn the early 1980's thi~ the early 1990's pent up demand tn land sales du~qng the mid- 1980's assessing t~q~e vacancy rates and functional obsolescence among older, multi-story tndustaqal buildings need for zoning to be more flexible tn the re-use of older tndust~qal buildings higher potential for growth tn Cambridge due to land bank, and Toyota expansio~ Office Market described office market as being tn turmoil vacancy rates range across the Region from 3070 tn Kitchener to 1970 tn Guelph (minimum 10,000 sqft multi-tenant fits within these figures) estimated that there is approximately 500,000 sqft of vacant office space tn downtown Economic Development Division March 9, 1995. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Kitchener and expects the situation to get worse downtown office owners are not happy with this situation problem of downtoum's perception re. safety and image resulting in tenant relocation need for courtesy visits to Downtown businesses currently he has agents working with 19 dilTerent downtown groups looking at leaving the downtown suggested one way to improve this situation is to b~qng in uses like Bell Canada~ United Church, and CIBC data centre Retail Market retail market is undergoing change with the rise of the big box phenomena e.g., Plqce Club, Home Depo~ Consumers Dist~qbuting, Canadian Tire in Cambridge downtown affected when King Centre took the retailers off King Street importance of niche retail marketing in the downtown Karen Redman left the meeting After several questions and discussion, Mike Itiscott invited John Whitney back to a future meeting to update the committee and discuss some of these ideas further. 3. Economic Development Activities V. Gibaut brought to Committee a concern on a potential land sale in Lancaster Corporate Centre. It was pointed out that the architectural design was completed and approved according to the inlbrmation provided by the City of Kitchener. The concern was that the 13.7 metre setback that MTO requires was not included in the original package to the agent representing the client What was included was the B-9 by-law which was indicated the rear Economic Development Division March 9, 1995. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES setback as 7.5 meta'es, and therefore prohibits the design from working. Committee hstened to the design consultants/constrnction fh~n who indicated options that they wish the City to consider which would meet their chents need~ Their chent is anxious to proceed with this project to the extent of approving additional funding necessary for the building of the basement Committee excused the Contractors and Realtor and discussed this item further in caucu~ 4. Task Force V. Gibuat circulated a Da'Mt Report from Economic Development staff dealing with departmental suggestions for the Mayors Task Force on the Downtow~ Committee members are asked to provide input by fax to Economic Development staff. It was pointed out that the departments were asked for ideas only not recommendation~ 5. Next Meeting Thursday, March 93rd, 1995 - 11:00 am has been selected to finish the items of todays agenda~ Meeting adjourned 1:90 pm Next Meeting: Thursday, March ~3, 1995 11:00 mm. - 1:00 p.m. Council Lounge, ~nd Floor Kitchener City Hall Economic Development Division March 9, 1995.