City discusses future of economic development
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Updated: October 28, 2009 1:07 AM
The shape of Salmon Arm’s Economic Development Corporation may be changing.
At the Oct. 14 meeting of the Salmon Arm Downtown Improvement Association, director Michael Wagner, who is also president of the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society, told the board that there was an attempt this summer to bring the city’s economic development function together with the Columbia Shuswap Regional District. However, the attempt was not successful.
“At the end of the day, there was no will from the CSRD to enter that joint function,” he commented.
The economic development society felt unanimously that the best model would be a regional one and one independent of politics, he said. Now the society will wait to hear from the city if it wishes to move the economic development function in-house.
The future of the business development program, which is part of economic development, would then have to be considered.
Wagner says it’s served about 200 businesses, not just in Salmon Arm, and includes the mentorship program whereby a number of successful local business people guide new businesses.
In the meantime, the website, civicjobs.ca, lists the position of Economic Development Manager for Salmon Arm. The position was posted on Oct. 16 and expires Oct. 30.
Asked about plans for the Economic Development Corporation, Mayor Marty Bootsma said discussions about it are still being held in-camera and can’t yet be made public.
Former economic development officer, Neil Babiy, left his position at the end of June and the position has remained vacant since.
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