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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBusiness & Ind - 1995-09-07BIAC\1995-09-07 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1995 PRESENT: Mike Hiscott (Chah'), Carl Zeht; Councillor Tom Galloway, L inda Kieswetter, John Bingeman, Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Atso Saarkoppel, Dan Beach, John Tibbits, Elliott Currie Bob C~ickshanlq David l~'eure, and Richard Lewchuk ALSO PRESENT: Mayor Richard Christy, Tom McKay, Valerie Gibaut~ Jane Jantzi and Peter Berczi RECORDER: Sandy Curzon 1. Minutes of August 10, 1995 Minutes of August 10th were approved and adopteck Call Centres As a result of previous meetings that V. Gibaut and ~VL Hiscott have had with Peter Berczi, Zehr-Berczi Group, ~Vh'. Berczi was invited to make a presentation with respect to ath'acting Call Cenh'e operations to the vacant office space in downtown Kitchener. ~Vh'. Berczi is a former employee of Bell Canada~ ~Vh'. Berczi provided Committee with an overview both verbal and written of what call cenh'es are; why it k such a hot topic anck what's in it for the City of Kitchener. Taken from ~V[r. Berczi's notes, Call Cenh'es are sophisticated telecommunications facilities that process large volumes of both inbound and outbound telephone caH~ ~V[r. Berczi has been focusing on downtown Kitchener for the past four months due to the availability of office space and k very enthusiastic about his proposal BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Technology has changed over the years with advanced 'predicted dialers' which make phone calls to a 'live' audience on behalf of a company. With the blending of incoming and outgoing calls within one cent~'al area. m&ximized efficiency results Mayor Christy and J. Jantzi entered meeting Nh'. Berczi indicated that the long term plan would be to relocate existing call cent,'es to Kitchener and target businesses to integrate call cent~'e into theh' individual marketing st~'ategy. New Brunswick was used as an example of a l:q'ovince that has ah'eady att~'acted more than 90 call cent,'es dmqng the past three years IVh'. Berczi felt that with the help of the Downtown Action Team, he could put Kitchener on the map as a leader for Ontario. It was sup~qested that Conestoga College could offer t~'aJning courses An average salary for a call cent~'e employee would be $99-99k per year. It is estimated that the increase in employment could be in the thousand's per year. Peter Berczi left the meeting Committee agreed to the concept of having a call cent~'e proposal using 3 or 4 scenarios, ch'afted between Peter Berczi and the City of Kitchener, presented to Management Committee for theh' review and Council for approval Moved by Bob Cruickshank Seconded by Elliott Currie That city staff formulate a proposal between Peter Berczi and the City of Kitchener to be presented to City Council Carried 3. Future of Industrial Land in Kitchener This item was deferred to the meeting of October 19th to ensure that staff have an opportunity to compile an inventory of existing land. Economic Development Division September 7, 1995. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES 4. Declaration Action o o Moved by Dan Beach Seconded by Atso Saarkoppel That Committee endorse the declaration as amended Carried The next step, now that the declaration has been accepted, was discusseck Caution was stressed on the presentation to the various levels of government and agencte~ It was suggested that the Waterloo Economic Development Committee, Regional Labour Council, K-W Chamber of Commerce and the KW Area Convention Bureau be advised in order to gain theh' support for the declaratiom kVL Hiscott to ch'aft a letter for Mayor Chiqsty's approval that will be sent to these organization~ In addition, a letter will be ch'afted for Waterloo Regional Council and the two school boards containing the declaratio~ Waterloo Region Waste Water Review Committee was asked to provide input~ at the October 19th meeting if they have any concerns of this report~ Economic Development Activities Downtown Action Team will be located in the existing office of the Economic Development Division and will be using the services of the part-time staff member who will become full time du~4ug the two year operation of this team~ J. Jantzi advised Committee that the company headquartered in Germany is still negotiating the purchase of a building on McBrine Diqve. She expects the offer to be finalized in October and close in January '96. The next issue of Global Opportunities and Newsletter will be dist~qbuted by September Economic Development Division September 7, 1995. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES The following upcoming events were discussed briefly: SIOR - September 19 & 90th CiWEN - September 98th 100th Anniversary of K-W Hospital- Health Fab'- October 4th & 5th EDCO Fall Meeting- Guelph, October 10th & llth Passport to Success - October llth and 19th Canadian M~hine and Tool - October 95th World Trade '95 - October 96th Business Heritage - November 99nd Real Estate Show - November 99th to December 1st The meeting adjourned at l:lOpn~ Next Meeting: Thursday, October 19, 1995 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Council Lounge, ~nd Floor Kitchener City Hall PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE FOR NEXT MEETI2~G Economic Development Division September 7, 1995.