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Home My WebLink AboutBusiness & Ind - 1998-04-08BIAC\1998-04-08 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1998 PRESENT: John Bingeman, Chair; lJnda Kieswetter, Councillors Jean Haalboom and Tom Galloway, Helena Webb, Mike Hisco~ Jeff Morris, Carol Wiebe, Scott Baird, Denise Strong, Dan Beach, Tony Duscio, Jan Varner, Mayor Carl Zehi; Tim McCabe, Brock Stanley, Valerie Gibaut and Brad Hammond REGRETS: Berry Vrbanovic RECORDER: Sandy Curzon Process and Key Objectives towards an Enhanced Focus and New Organizational Plan for Economic Development - City of Kitchener Messrs, Tim McCabe, General Manager and Brock Stanley, Assistant General Manager of Planning & Development Department provided Committee with an overview of report PD 98/48 as revised by the Planning and Economic Development Committee on Ap~ql 6, 1998. Nh'. McCabe expressed the need for input from BIAC. Nh'. McCabe was directed by John Gazzola, CAO to prepare a report that would set out a process for integration of the Economic Development function into Planning. Nh'. McCabe recognized that Committee has been frustrated in the past by not being consulted on timely matters, therefore todays intention was to inlbrm Committee prior to the next step. Nh'. McCabe's objectives today were to get opinions on: o comments on the model o sh'ategic plan process o recommendation of the Chair on Sh'ategic Plan Team o key objectives o agreement on a two hour meeting to ~hscuss SWOT analysis before sh'ategic cb'aft o 3rd party facilitator to take BIAC thi'ough the process o combine Adaptive Re-Use Committee into BIAC thereby providing a team approach Nh'. McCabe emphasized that today was a full consultation and required Committee's input. The report sets out the process, identifies key stakeholders and key objectives which he felt were 'must' priorities of which others could be added. Objective #5 was changed to read: To consider a~ e£1betire business £aeiiitation model ~rithin the near Economic Derelopment Dirision &nd ensure a process is in place eosporatelr to gum'a~tee success For excellence in eustomerserriee. He asked that attention be paid to #7 of the key objectives which states ]'bat a~y ~vo~a~ization eba~ge wot be vie~red as P]eonomie Derelopment being absorbed into Planning and Developmen~ but Planning and Development being z~enooineered to ewbanee Economic Development Simply pu~ this would bring the resources and expertise from Planning to re-engineer a new Economic Development functio~ Success depends on attitude and effective leadership. It is the intent to free up Economic Development staff and resources for Economic Development functions which will enable them to take on a new role by focusing on key objectives` Committee agreed that: J. Bingeman be part of the strategic planning process representing BIAC. the Adaptive Re-use Committee be included in the same session as the Business and Industry Advisory Committee. past Team Kitchener representatives and dissatisfied clients (customers) be included in the hst of stakeholders` use of a 3rd party facilitator confidentiality be highly regarded indust~qal realtors be interviewed individually and asked to provide dissatisfied chent hst provide a two hour session with stakeholders and facilitator Brock Stanley reviewed the process for strategic plan and reorganizatiom He noted that Economic Development hasn't had a strategic plan since 1999. Since the Planning Department has just recently gone thi'ough a reorganization process, they can appreciate how a strategic plan can assist in the process` The strategic plan for Planning, which was approved at PED on Ap~ql 4th, will be used as a tool to integrate and enhance the Economic Development functiom The objective is to (Ir'Mt a revised strategic plan and see where Economic Development fits in based on SWOT analysis, PI'esentation of final Strategic Plan, Reorganization Plan and Implementation Plan to PED on June 99nd and for City Council consideration on July 6, 1998. J. Haalboom and C. Wiebe entered meeting BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES April 8, 1998 The following is a list of unsolicited comments by Committee membe~: concern on choice of facilitator everyone must 'buy-in' to #7 objective (page 6 of report) otherwise it won't work sense of desire to make these changes, however it is acknowledged that it isn't going to be easy to move forward and get on with task in-house marketing needs to be ad(b'essed, with strong backing from the Mayor will send a positive message solicit support from other staff members make sure that a negative view of amalgamation doesn't flou~qsh take care in choosing the name of the new department to ensure that it isn't perceived that one area is more important than another (Planning or Economic Development) ensure that the economic development function remains at a high profile explore needs to develop customer services roles need to change along with accountability ff you are part of the problem, can you be part of the process attitude! Nh'. McCabe realizes that the nature of the job in Planning is to get dumped om However, a better image cannot be created ff it doesn't happen corporately. There was strong agreement from Committee that 'Attitude" has to change. Ih'esent attitude k understandable given the environment that staff have had to work under. Some Councillors do not understand why there needs to be Economic Developmen~ perhaps this k where we need to star~ V. Gibaut indicated that statistics from the 1997 Annual Report indicate that appro×imately 19 problem solving issues were dealt with by staff per montl~ Businesses see Economic Development as an advocate to look after them - this takes away from valuable time needed for plant visits, marketing, etc. Messra McCabe, Stanley and Mayor Zehr left the meeting. J. Bingeman asked Committee to forward to him further comments so that they are reflected as a group not individual input Councillor Haalboom questioned where the potential $150,000. is required under the new st~cture. Most of it will be for the implementation of a one-stop-shopping concept ah'eady approved by Council, to hire an additional Business Facilitator and Economic Development Officer plus costs of relocating staff. It is intended also that Economic Development staff will not be involved heavily in administration and budgeting activities~ JENNIFER KING - Small Business Counsellor BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES 3 April 8, 1998 The Small Business program has been in Kitchener for the past 10 years, nine of which have been in partnership with the City of Kitchener and the Ministry of Economic Development Trade and Tourisn~ ~V[~ King currently offers her clients free consultations, ~minars, workshops, resource material, etc. There are 39 offices across Ontario. Kitchener k in the top 10 which currently serves the Region including Guelpl~ It k not the role of the Small Business Counsellor to determine whether someone k suitable to start their own business regardless of the increase in bank~q~ptcie~ Clients are encouraged to conduct a feasibility study and personal analysis on starting a business- The PI'ovince has a model on how they want the Small Business Offices to expand which is aimed at focusing on the clients needs: one stop resources expanded visible location add registration terminals GST and PST sign up capabilities more ~minarsAvorkshops for those ah'eady in business mentoxqng program for start up chents with those who are ah'eady in business mandate to serve start-up - 5 years Industry Canada is providing funds to support Small Business by providing: computer systemAntexmet capabilities extensive pubhcationA'esource hbrary funding for a Business Information Officer It is expected that the position of Business Information Officer will be filled by next monte Their role is to adch'ess front line questions, show clients market research tools and how to use them. ~V[~ King indicated that the current small business centre needs to expand in order to facilitate these new resources and become more visible, the main floor at city hall is being considered as a possibility. The desired time frame for the conversion is Fall '98. It was noted that regardless of the Enterprise Centre, funding from the PI'ovince is expected to continue however, future partnerships may be needed. The overall response from the other cities in the Region has been very positive- funding from them is being actively pursued. J. King left the meeting BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES 4 April 8, 1998 3. M/NlYrES OF MARCH 11, 1998 a) b) Minutes of March IL 1998 were approved and adopte& Business arising from minute~ o none 4. OTHER BUSINESS b) D. Strong shared a fhst hand experience with someone who was frnstrated with the development process and selected a site in Milto~ Economic Development staff were working with this chent and asked M~ Strong if she could provide further detail~ J. Bingeman noted that this was Valerie's last meeting with the Committee pending her retirement on Ap~ql 30tl~ Valerie thanked Committee for their continued support and encouraged them to 'keep at it'. She expressed that there were upcoming opportunities for them to express themselves and make change~ She asked Committee to support the proposal to integrate Economic Development with Planning. Economic Development staff need to dedicate more time to keep in contact with local companies particularly those that have indicated the desire to expamFhire. The existing strncture and staff resources limits the time available for such activitie~ She closed off with remarks that given the available resources, she felt that she and her staff have done a good job. Meeting adjourned at l:05pm Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 13, 1998 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Council Caucus Room, ~nd Floor City of Kitchener, City Hall BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES 5 April 8, 1998