SHUSWAP ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

Note: The following minutes are subject to correction when endorsed by the Committee at its next meeting.

Meeting #:
Date:	Thursday, May 09, 2019
Time:	9:30 A.m. - 12:00 P.m.
Location:	CSRD Boardroom 555 Harbourfront Drive NE, Salmon Arm

Committee Members Present

• P. Demenok (Chair), Director, Electoral Area C
• J. Simpson (Vice-Chair), Director, Electoral Area F
• R. Martin, Director, Electoral Area E
• R. Talbot, Director, Electoral Area D
• K. Brown, South Shuswap Chamber of Commerce
• R. Marshall, Community Futures Shuswap

Staff Present

• R. Cyr, Economic Development Officer
• S. Goodey, Ec. Dev. Clerical Assistant

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1.

Call to Order

The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:30 AM.

1.2

Approval of Agenda

• Moved By K. Brown
  Seconded By R. Marshall

  THAT: the agenda of the May 9th, 2019  Shuswap Economic Development Advisory Committee meeting be approved.

  
  CARRIED

1.3

Adoption of Minutes

• Moved By Director Simpson
  Seconded By Director Talbot

  THAT: the minutes of the March 14th, 2019 Shuswap Economic Development Advisory Committee meeting be adopted as circulated.

  
  CARRIED

3.

Update on the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) Pilot Program

K. Dearing gave the Committee an update on the Provincial Nominee Pilot Program. This program is for high-demand foreign workers and experienced entrepreneurs to gain permanent residency in B.C. The program has been updated and will also be able to assist businesses in attracting workers in industries that are struggling with labour recruitment. The program is now into the second round of applications.  The new system encourages interaction to be directly between the applicants and SED after they have been approved by the Province.  The applicants must complete a four stage assessment as follows:

1. an online application
2. a video conference call
3. a mandatory site visit to the community
4. review of a formal request to start a business in the Shuswap region.

1.

Call to Order

1.1

Guest(s) in Attendance

The Chair acknowledged the guests in attendance:

Kyle Dearing - Kyle Dearing Consulting, Shuswap Economic Development Consultant

Piotr Ujma - Falkland Tourism Committee

4.

Invest in BC / BC Business Ad partnership with SAEDS

Shuswap Economic Development (SED) has partnered with Salmon Arm Economic Development Society (SAEDS) to collaborate in advertising that will be in the Invest in BC magazine.  This partnership also includes online advertisements on the BCBusiness Website.  The online advertisement will be linked to the SED website.  The advertisement highlights, local business opportunities, recreation, cost of living, heath care and transportation infrastructure.  

 

 

5.

Community Engagement Meetings – May 14 & 15

Shuswap Economic Development (SED) will be hosting two Community Engagement Meetings on May 13th and 14th in Areas C and F.  ECDC Consulting has been contracted to do a presentation on Economic Development and how it integrates with the Shuswap Economic Development Strategy and Workplan.  SED is working with the local Chamber of Commerce to ensure that the invite list is inclusive to all businesses in these two electoral areas. SED will also be hosting these workshop in Electoral Area D and E in the near future. These meetings are one of the projects from the SED Strategy.

6.

Meeting with ECDC and CSRD, Protective Services

Shuswap Economic Development has scheduled a meeting for May 15th with ECDC and the CSRD Protective Services Department.  The intention of the meeting is to begin discussions that will start the development of an Business Disaster Resiliency Plan. There is currently funding from the Rural Dividend fund allotted for this project.

7.

Meeting with the Minister of Agriculture

On Saturday, May 4th 2019, R. Cyr and K. Dearing attended a meeting with the BC Minister of Agriculture, Lana Popham.  SAEDS ED Lana Fitt, Councilor Chad Eliason, Chad Shipmaker, and various other community representatives also attended the meeting.  Councilor Chad Eliason (City of Salmon Arm) has been the driving force behind a feasibility study for a food hub in Salmon Arm that would be available for use for the entire Shuswap Region. The Minister of Agriculture has provided $35,000 to fund the feasibility study. When the feasibility study is completed the next step in the project is to complete a comprehensive business plan.  This project is one of the initiatives of the Shuswap Agricultural Strategy that was completed in 2015.

8.

Shuswap Food Action Society

Shuswap Economic Development has been approached by the Shuswap Food Action Society to assist with the marketing of the upcoming Farm Tour.  This year the group is hosting two separate events on two separate weekend days with the intention that all communities can be involved.  Both events will most likely take place in July. In order for a farm to participate they must have some form of onsite sales and be able to provide hourly tours to the public.

9.

Update Shuswap Economic Development Website

The SED website is still in the development phase.  The expected date of completion will be September 30, 2019.  The business listings database will be a new feature for the SED website.  This business listing database will be the only database for SED going forward. Currently we have two other databases - Executive Pulse and a business database on an Excel spreadsheet.  Neither of these databases have permission from the businesses to use their contact information.  With the new database the permissions will allow the SED staff to use the database to manage customer relationships and communications.  One benefit of this database to the community is that the new website will allow for businesses to have an online presence, if they choose to not have their own website. The new website and listings will be maintained by SED staff on a regular basis with annual follow ups.

10.

New Falkland Business Group Meeting

A new business group has been formed in Falkland, focusing on marketing businesses in Falkland and the surrounding area.  The group is wanting to work with Shuswap Economic Development (SED) and utilize the services provided by SED. R. Cyr stated that it is a great opportunity for Area D and SED to have these businesses engaged in the services of SED.  K. Brown also had a meeting with the group regarding implementing new events and how to write effective grants for funding. 

11.

CrowdRiff uses for Shuswap Economic Development

K. Dearing spoke to the committee about the Crowdriff implementation and uses. CrowdRiff is an online tool used to assist destinations in finding user generated content and integrate into their social media pages and websites. The program monitors popular social media websites, searching for commonly used hashtags and compiles them all into one place.  SED will be able to then share these photos through a photo request portal.  This new media hub will also maintain usage requirements and will ensure that all photos are following the photographer contract requirements. Photographers will also be able to submit their own photos and if the proper permissions are given SED will be able to share these photos in their marketing and promotion.

12.

Seymour Arm Community Association Meeting

R. Cyr, K. Dearing and S. Goodey attended the Seymour Arm Community Association meeting that took place on April 26, 2019. Director Simpson also attended the meeting.  The meeting was a great way to engage with the community and to discuss issues and concerns within Seymour Arm.  The group is a very effective and engaged in their community. SED will continue to maintain the relationship with this community organization to see how they can assist them with future projects.

13.

Recent Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Tourism Ec Dev Webinars

K. Dearing shared with the committee that the BC Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology host a variety of free online webinars on various topics regarding economic development. You can participate in the webinars live or you can access past series in their online library. This is a cost effective way of keep up to date on funding programs and other resources through the Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology

You can access the webinars at the following link, https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/economicdevelopment/bc-ideas-exchange/webinars/upcoming-webinar.

14.

Ministry of Jobs Trade and Technology - Self Assessment Exercise - Is your community investment ready?

The Committee participated in a brief self assessment exercise on "Is Your Community Investment Ready?" developed by the Ministry of Jobs, Trade, and Technology. 

The intent of this exercise was to gauge if the communities in the Shuswap region were "investment ready".  Director Demenok collected the worksheets and will share them with the Committee once he has complied all of the information.

15.

Community Roundtable

Time permitting.

Due to time this discussion items was passed.

16.

11:00 AM IN CAMERA

THAT: pursuant to Sections 90(1)

(c) labour relations or other employee relations;

(k)  negotiations and related discussions respecting the proposed provision of a municipal service that are at their preliminary stages and that, in the view of the committee, could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the regional district if they were held in public;

of the Community Charter, the Committee move In Camera.

Staff left the meeting.

CAO and Assistant Deputy Corporate Officer in attendance.

R. Cyr left the meeting at 11:40 AM.

S. Goodey left the meeting at 11:41 AM.

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17.

Next Meeting

September 12, 2019 at 9:30 AM, Location to be determined.

18.

Adjournment

• Moved By Director Talbot
  Seconded By Director Simpson

  THAT: the May 9th, 2019 Shuswap Economic Development Advisory Committee meeting be adjourned.

  
  CARRIED