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Home My WebLink AboutBusiness & Ind - 1998-06-10BIAC\1998-06-10 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1998 PRESENT: John Bingeman, Chat'; Councillors Jean Haalboom, Christina Weylie and Tom Galloway, Helena Webb, Jeff Morri~ Carol Wiebe, Scott Bah'd, Denise Strong, Jan Varner, Peter Coolq Mayor Carl Zeht; Tim McCabe, Jane Jantzi, and Michael FoHett GUESTS: Kaku Korsah, PI'esident of National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana; Mayor Sarah Kuntua~Atta; and Mayor Clothilda Amenga~Etego RECORDER: Sandy Curzon C. Weyhe introduced our guests from Ghana, Africa who are in Canada sponsored by the Federation of Canadian Municipahties (FCM), funded by CiTA~ The guests included kVh'. Kaku Korsah, president of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana; Mayor Sarah Kuntua~Atta who is also a Univm$ity PI'ofessor and Mayor Clothilda Amenga~Etego a high school teacher. T. McCabe re-introduced Michael FoHett of FoHett Consulting Inc. who facilitated a group SWOT analysis meeting with the Adaptive Re-Use Committee and Business and Industry Advisory Committee on May 13tl~ Nh'. McCabe gave Committee an overview of the recommendations of this meeting as well as a summary of various other meetings with local individuals and organizations with respect to Economic Development~ Upon questioning, }VD'. McCabe indicated that the Visitor and Convention Bureau was not part of this initial stakeholder review as it was felt that tourism was a topic that was being discussed in various other arenas~ After hours of interviews with the various stakeholders it became apparent that there were three priorities that seemed to be loud and clear 1. Customer Service - need to get our ship in shape - actions speak loader than words Business Retention - not enough time spent on business retentiom Need a formal process in place - get the inlb out to business, not only what economic development k doing but all departments especially planning- more focus on customer service 3. Continue the Downtown revitalization effort~ Other areas that were di~ussed included: a new focus for CTT. The current image is not defined - full of bureaucracy - no industry/business involved - majority of monies is tagged for salaries - current stakeholders agree to let CTT spearhead and st~q~cture international marketing. should Economic Development become part of Planning - vision, attitude and leadership need to be clearly defined to ensure the 'separateness' of the two area~ One of the weaknesses of Economic Development reporting to Planning would be the perception of Economic Development being absorbed by the proces~ Physical separateness was stressed. employ an 'ambassador type' person as head of Economic Development to put the strategic plan in place and be part of the process - it was clearly indicated that this person not be bogged down with administrative work ie. management committee, budget preparation, etc. The intent is to have this person deal one-on-one with the business community relocate the Economic Development Division to accommodate additional staff (from existing staff) such as ~ business facilitators and the one-stop-shopping initiative. The newly formed department would be called Department of Business and Planning Service~ BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES June 10, 1998 It was noted that Kitchener's reputation could be improved with respect to planning procedures Nh'. McCabe laid blame on himself indicating that just one phone call could have made some difference as a follow-up to the services provided by his department It is these title things that make the difference - more concentration needs to be done in this arex Discussion: Nh'. FoHett summarized the S~OT Analysis (attached to these minutes) which will be put into a formal format and presented to Planning & Development Committee June ~nd at 4:15pn~ C. Wiebe commented that we, the City, seem to be a master at regulation~ We need to look at the current policies/regulations and 'peel some off. The business community needs to have someone who can make the decisions and challenge some of the regulation~ Nh'. McCabe acknowledged M~ Wiebe's comments and pointed out that some of the regulations are in place because of the demand from the consulting industry ie. architects, planners, etc., however he agreed that there was definitely some room for improvement A Report from the Chamber of Commerce, dated June 1st was dist~qbuted to Committee. One of the recommendations was of a joint partnership between the City of Kitchener and Chamber of Commerce to encourage feedback through a const~ctive accountability frameworl~ Many businesses have expressed concern that direct feedback on service received at the City of Kitchener could compromise future service. A senior presence fitting into the existing st~cture will allow a venue for feedback Nh'. McCabe touched hghtly on the proposed Business Enterprise Centre that would incorporate the Small Business Centre - currently in the Economic Development arex A presentation has been made to Management Committee on the concep~ however the final location of this Centre is still being considere& It has been suggested that locating to the Pubhc Service area on the main level of City Hall would give the centre a high profile thus giving business clients a 'welcome' feeling with utmost customer service. The Small Business Centre has been provided with funds from Industry Canada to hire a Research Assistan~ and by providing them with space to expand and possibly take on other stakeholder~ provide the Centre to take the next steps in becoming self sufficient There have been several outside groups approached to sponsor this initiative and why have each expressed an interest in the Business Enterprise Centre. Unless sufficient space is obtained within City Hall - outside venues will have to be considere& Should this happen, the links to economic development would be lost Mayor Zehr and T. McCabe left the meeting Committee questioned whether or not the proposed expansion needed their support J. Jantzi elaborated on the proposal Currently the Small Business Centre occupies 500 square feet in the Economic Development office. In order to meet their expansion needs~ 4,000 square feet of space is require& The current Public Service area including the space previously occupied BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES 3 June 10, 1998 by Information Services has a total of 5,000 square feet which would allow for L000 sq. fC of rental space for other stakeholderg The th'ovinee will only financially support the centre if it moves - this area is a prime location which has after hour capabilitie~ This space is currently being reviewed for other relocation possibilitie~ After further discussion Committee made the following recommendatiog Motion by Scott Baird Seconded by Denise Strong That BIAC strongly recommends the proposed Business Enterprise Centre be located on the main level of Kitchener City Hall currently occupied by the Public Service Counter and the space formerly occupied by Information Services Division for a total of approximately 5,000 square feet. Carried Extension to Term of Committee Councillor Galloway was in receipt of a memo from the Clerks Department indicating that the Term of Business and Industry Advisory Committee will expire June 30, 1998. It was felt at the time of appointments to the Committee that the reorgani×ation of the Economic Development Division would have been completed by June 30tl~ Councillor Galloway will contact Lloyd Parkhouse, Deputy City Clerk and advise him that Council will officially extend the term of BIAC at the next Council meeting. M/NUTES OF APRIL 8, 1998 a) Minutes of Ap~41 8, 1998 were approved and adopteck b) Business a~qsing from minuteK o none BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES 4 June 10, 1998 5. OTHER BUSINESS J. Jantzi intbrmed Committee that she has been working with a client jointly with the City of Waterloo. This client will require appro×imately 100,000 sq. ft. of office space and generate 300-500 job~ Kitchener-Waterloo was initially one of 96 o~qginal locations across Canada Once the list was narrowed down to 9 communities (KJtchener-Waterloo being one), we were asked to prepare a proposal based on 190+ extensive questions that the client provide~L Along with Council and staff from both cities, tours, luncheons and one-on-one meetings with university/college officials were also arranged. Both Kitchener and Waterloo have offered several sites for the client and the final decision is expected within the next 3 wee~. Committee congratulated M~ Jantzi on her progress todate and asked to be intbrmed once the final decision is made. b) A local company is looking at purchasing 16 acres in Huron Business Park for expansion c) The City has entered into an agreement whereby they will purchase approximately 8.6 acres from the Huron Woods Development Corporatiom This purchase will be conditional upon Huron Woods Development Corporation completing the Trillium D~qve extension in its entirety. Should the road not be completed by December 3L 1998, the City will not be required to purchase these lands scheduled to close June 30, 1999. Meeting adjourned at 19:50pm Next Meeting: Thursday, July 9, 1998 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Training Room, ~nd Floor City of Kitchener, City Hall PLEASE RSVP YOUR ATTENDANCE TO SANDY CURZON 741-9957 BY JULY 7TH, 1998. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES 5 June 10, 1998