County News
Year end report
A range of ups and downs for economic development in 2018
The County’s Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) released its 2018 Year End Report last week, and one of the top issues continues to be the workforce housing challenges and its impact on economic growth.
The CEDC calls it a troubling trend in the report and quotes a young lady moving to the County and struggling to find a place to live, who hints that landlords may be too interested in pleasing the high-paying summer tenants rather than the yearround residents. The CEDC also points to the 2018 Vital Signs Report, which paints a clear and accurate picture of the current housing crisis.
Regarding housing permits and permit activity, the report indicates that activity has declined sharply since November, after increased activity over the prior five months. After some wild fluctuations, the past three years oddly ended up hitting roughly the same mark by each year end. In 2017, massive spikes in permit activity took place in July, August and November, whereas in 2018 activity had two peaks in May and November, but with climbs that were more gradual. After massive increases in new housing permits in both 2015 and 2016, 2017 and 2018 saw declines, with more decline expected in the upcoming year.
Workforce development and affordable housing for both residents and seasonal workers were the two top priorities in 2018 for the CEDC, and those will probably top the list for 2019 as well. The development commission also focused on an accommodations study and a new visitor services roll-out.
Workforce development is very important and is considered the CEDC’s second priority this year, to help nurture a business-friendly environment via a consultation process with the local business community where it can then address challenges and look for solutions. The CEDC would like to attract and support new investment opportunities. Many are attracted to the County, but fear they might not be able to find the support they need to get their business established.
One area that has been quite successful is the HEAT program, which helps employers acquire talent. During the presentation, Director of Community Development and Strategic Initiatives Neil Carbone shared some stats from the program. “To date through three graduating classes, there have been 25 graduates, nine have obtained permanent employment, and there are 17 existing employees trained, which is essentially promoting employment retention,” said Carbone. Carbone also pointed out that the program helps local people who are underemployed, or who want to perform better or grow in their careers.
Councillor Brad Nieman wanted to know what the commission is doing to attract more full-time jobs to the area. “There has been studies done that look at the ecosystems and supply chains you need to have in place to attract certain types of industry. The County lacks those significantly,” said Carbone. Carbone pointed to a lack of transportation corridors and serviced industrial land as two major roadblocks, but also explained that there are neighbouring municipalities that are better fits for these types of businesses. “When you have a neighbouring community that has more land and is in a position to provide additional incentives, it is very hard to compete with that.”
Something fun, especially to consider at this time of year is the CEDC’s Winter Survival Workshops, which have increased both in volume and popularity. In 2013 there were five workshops with 123 attendees, In 2018, numbers increased with 10 workshops and 200 attendees.
The commission received over $1 million in grants in 2018, with $500,000 dedicated to community transit and $240,000 going to help fund Prince Edward County Food Hub. Also secured was $110,000 from the Ontario Municipal Cycling program for the Millennium Trail.
Supporting the youth of this community and making sure they have resources to stay and not move away to find employment is yet another arm of what the CEDC helps with. The commission supports local initiatives like The ROC and the PEC Job Fair. It has also created a youth seat on the CEDC and continues to make presentations to PECI students on career and entrepreneur opportunities available in this community.
On the marketing side, the Build a New Life Campaign continues to be a driver for the commission, and the website, buildanewlife.ca, has now become a central resource for profiling local entrepreneurs. The website had 1.3 million impressions and 10,000 subscribers, which is up from the 3,330 subscribers in 2017. There were over 110,000 page views and 26 investment inquiries valued at over $10 million in 2018.
The CEDC has also launched an immigration attraction campaign, which is funded through the Bay of Quinte Immigration Portal. There are four new videos on the website featuring Canadian newcomers who now call the County their home.
Carbone also touched on destination marketing in the presentation. “The question has been asked by a number of you about when we are starting to hear terms like over-tourism, why do we continue to market? Tourism is an integral part of our economy, we recognize that once we are strong in an area, the attention has to be focused elsewhere, which is why we have really refocused this area on the development of the County as a destination, and not just continuing to market it more and more.”
Comments (0)