It's hoped a new hybrid model will help Nanaimo thrive economically in ways it hasn't in recent years. (Dirk Heydemann/HA Photography)

By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo Prosperity Agency

City of Nanaimo to combine previous initiatives for economic development

Aug 27, 2019 | 5:27 AM

NANAIMO — The City of Nanaimo is shifting course on its plan for economic development in the region.

Previously, the city had an external agency working on economic development only to controversially shutter the corporation and replace it with an in-house version which never materialized.

Now the City is aiming to have a hybrid model with both a City-owned agency and an in-house economic development arm working to bring much needed income to the area.

On Monday, Aug. 26, councillors endorsed a consultant report advocating for the hybrid model. It was requested early into the term of Nanaimo’s current council, who said they wanted to renew focus on economic development in the harbour city.

The very first questions asked by councillors about the proposal highlighted the tumultuous history of economic development in Nanaimo.

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Coun. Don Bonner, Sheryl Armstrong and Ian Thorpe immediately asked about council oversight and how to protect the new City-owned agency from bureaucratic meddling.

Consultant Allan Neilson said firm guidelines and education about proper governance will be key to making the hybrid arrangement work.

“What we’d want to have in place, very clearly, is the expectation and responsibility written into the charter for the agency that the City’s role is to appoint and remove the directors (of the agency). At the day-to-day basis, the City doesn’t have the authority or responsibility over what the agency does,” Neilson explained.

What coun. Tyler Brown called “justified concerns” about autonomy, authority and responsibility were shared numerous times during Monday’s meeting.

There’s currently only one staff member and an administrative assistant handling the economic development file for the City. She was stranded in the position after the previous administration closed the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation in late 2016 and early 2017. By that point the initiative had unravelled and the CEO was fired.

An in-house model to be spearheaded by then-Mayor Bill McKay never materialized, leaving external agencies like Tourism Vancouver Island, the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce and Mid-Island Business Initiative to pick up the slack.

Under the plan unanimously adopted by councillors, in-house operations will create a strategy for economic development, create progress reports and assist anything business-related which requires City Hall input such as permits.

The City-owned external agency, tentatively called the Nanaimo Prosperity Agency, will then implement the strategy created by the City and coordinate organizations to make the plan become a reality.

Coun. Thorpe likened the council’s relationship to the Nanaimo Prosperity Agency to the one they already have with senior staff, who receive direction from councillors and then handle their respective files.

Further reports will now come before council in September.

CAO Jake Rudolph stressed there’s no money currently allocated to bring this initiative to fruition. The remainder of 2019 will be spent laying the groundwork for the hybrid model and it’s expected to get off the ground beginning in 2020.

Nearly $50,000 in stopgap money for the Mid-Island Business Initiative was approved in May, 2019 to guide economic development in the interim.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit