Mixed signals

It was mostly thumbs up, as a committee of council reacted to a new economic development proposal unveiled last week. Broadened to embrace environmental and social nurturing alongside the County economy, the proposed new approach is being rechristened as Community Development.

Both CAO Merlin Dewing and his appointed steward of the file, Deb Williams, stressed that the document they were tabling was not a solution to the malaise that has gripped the municipality’s economic development since the departure last year of Dan Taylor, but rather a starting point on a journey toward a solution.

Central to their plan is the creation of a commission composed of municipal officials and representatives of community organizations. By bringing various groups and initiatives together, the municipality hopes to use its resources more efficiently, lever the strengths of organizations such as Taste the County and the Chamber while reducing duplication of service and function. It might also serve to unify, clarify and amplify the marketing and investment attraction messages it projects to the world.

To get there council, with this community in tow, must cross the desert one more time. A vast empty space that has, several times in the near past, drained the ambitious, gobbled resources and overwhelmed many armed only with good intentions and a desire to see this community grow and prosper. This new project faces no less treacherous a path forward.

Choosing which organizations will sit around the table and what their role will be in defining policy and direction will be their first important test. Not only must they navigate their way to an arrangement they can all live with—but they must also create a credible organization accountable to and representative of the community—particularly those who drive the economy. Otherwise it risks becoming yet another pointless bureaucracy and expense.

And despite the good wishes and general agreement that this is the path most on council wish to follow, familiar prejudices and divisions remain just below the surface.

Yet it serves little purpose to continue to underline the risks that lay ahead. This path, despite the challenges, is surely better than drifting aimlessly. How much better will be measured in the coming weeks.

The good news is that entrepreneurs and individuals continue to invest and take a chance in Prince Edward County. Toronto’s uber chic hoteliers and operators of the Drake Hotel are busy remaking the Devonshire Inn in Wellington. The result will be dramatic and likely controversial— certainly exciting. The recent opening of the Pomodoro restaurant is the latest innovative and daring creation by the entrepreneurs of East and Main Bistro. At 66 Gilead, Sophia Pantazi and Peter Stroz are preparing for their first full season producing unique artisan spirits created from County ingredients, in a setting that showcases the detailed and immaculate restoration of a wonderful 19th century farm.

And the news this week that Hinterland Wine Company’s Vicki Samaras and Jonas Newman are investing, with the assistance of the federal government, in new sparkling wine processing equipment— the first of its kind in the County. Hinterland is carving out its own niche, and building a strong following, in the important and burgeoning wine industry in Prince Edward County.

In every corner of the County, individuals and their families are seizing opportunity here. They see their dreams, their ambitions and their future. They see a place to grow, to live a good life and become immersed in a cooperative and productive community. We are all richer for their dreams and their courage.

It would be great if these folks were given a sign that any of this mattered to our local government. It would be greater still if the municipality became a catalyst for growth and investment rather than an obstacle and a drag.

But in the absence of such a positive signal, it is, I suppose, a start to take planning and guidance of the County’s economic growth and prosperity into fresh hands. A commission of stakeholders surely has a better chance of serving this economy’s needs.

Perhaps the best outcome of this latest economic development initiative is to remove the issue from the direct meddling and manipulation of council. If council finds it can’t lead on this file—perhaps the most we can hope for is that it just get out of the way.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca