County wins triple nod for economic development awards
Administrator | Feb 13, 2017 | Comments 3
The County’s Community Development Department was honoured by the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) for recent advertising and marketing efforts.
At the organization’s annual conference in downtown Toronto last week, the County received three nods in the categories for municipalities with a population between 10,000 and 50,000.
The awards included:
1. Best 2016 Publication for a Prince Edward County Community Investment Profile booklet.
2. Best 2016 Advertising for the Build a New Life campaign.
3. Best 2016 Technology and New Media for ambassador program video booklets.
“It’s really exciting to be recognized by our industry for these initiatives,” said Neil Carbone, Director of Community Development for the County. “These awards are a testament to the hard work and perseverance of the many entrepreneurs and residents whose stories were the foundation of these campaigns.”
The ambassador video booklet has a built-in video screen displaying three short videos that feature young entrepreneurs who made the move to the County. It’s part of the ‘Build a New Life’ campaign to encourage people to move to Prince Edward County. This campaign includes leveraging existing local ‘County Ambassadors’ who share their experiences with friends and family outside the County.
The Community Investment Profile is part of a resident and investment attraction strategy to attract new residents and business opportunities.
“This is a reflection of the priorities outlined in the County’s newly adopted Corporate Strategic Plan, which includes the development of a business friendly environment,” said Mayor Robert Quaiff. “Not only are these initiatives an example of that priority, but it’s great to see the Community Development Department continue to be on the leading edge of community and economic development in Ontario.”
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Gary – you too have asked interesting questions. This topic needs to be seriously addressed by all stakeholders – because let’s be truthful this is not the first time the Economic or the now Community Development Department have won awards. Under the previous Commissioner they did too – this is not new nor different. The problem is, none of the mentioned awards seem to address the challenges facing this community – some of which are needing new businesses that produce permanent jobs and to enhance our tax base. Tourism we have by the bucket load – it is time to diversify, if that doesn’t happen, then the CDD isn’t doing the job. Unless you disagree? But the major question I have asked, you seemed to have overlooked – Does tourism contribute to the municipal coffers – enough to balance all that local taxpayers spend to attract them? It goes well beyond the cost of running the CDD – as you should be aware? But the CDD is now in charge of tourism, so the question I put to them is a fair one.
As far as these awards go – it appears to be self serving, where one Economic Development group awards the other. What other municipal departments receive regional or Provincial awards that Council cheers about? Sorry, it is time for the CDD to produce substantive results for the taxpayers – or to call it a day. But like I said earlier – this requires input from all the stakeholders – including the public!
Gary – as you are aware, many taxpayers dollars have supported this “Department” for many years. It is a fair question to ask – When will taxpayers see results and see a return on their investment? To continue on as we are is simply bad business. Unless you disagree?
Dennis, it sounds like you think the Community Development Dept spends all its time promoting tourism, and not working to attract new businesses and new residents?
You’d be in favour of saving taxpayers’ money by eliminating the Community Development Dept?
I can certainly appreciate the hard work that was put in to achieving these awards. However, I am not sure if the taxpayers are getting any bang out of their buck from the Community Development Department. In order to determine this, we would need to know how many tax dollars go into this department and how much money is returned to the municipal treasury. I don’t recall ever seeing these numbers made public. I also don’t recall having the number of new permanent jobs created by this department made public either, or hearing how do we as taxpayers benefit from having our community’s population more than double during the summer months, because of tourist promotions. How does selling a bottle of wine to a tourist translate into lessening the tax burden for permanent residents and balancing that against the cost of using our roads and infrastructure? I am not trying to be hard-hearted here, but we all know the financial challenges this community faces with high taxes, high water costs and a huge road repair bill. I don’t believe we have the luxury to finance initiatives that are not making money for the taxpayers or bringing new industry or jobs into the County to bolster our tax base.