Creative Rural Economy plan to stimulate investment

Prince Edward County is preparing a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) to stimulate investment in its economy and to support implementation of its Creative Rural Economy Strategy.
“Prince Edward County is well known for its creative economy which employs over 30% of the local labour force, pays 46% of the wages and accounts for 60% of disposable income, and is expected to grow by 40% over the next decade” said Dan Taylor, PEC Economic Development Officer.
“The CIP is a municipal tool that the County is using to offer better municipally integrated services and financial incentive programs to stimulate private investment in the overall creative economy. The tool is aimed at creative workers and entrepreneurs and focused on four targeted sectors of the local economy– gastronomy, creative industries, green business and healthcare & wellness.”
“This plan should attract more investment and private sector job creation,” said Mayor Leo Finnegan.
“Council and the community are working with our Economic Development Office to bring more year-round, full-time, good wage jobs in growing areas of the global economy and this plan will deliver against those objectives. I am proud that the County continues to demonstrate its leadership with development of the first Creative Rural Economy Community Improvement Plan (CIP) in Ontario.
Prince Edward County has a Creative Rural Economy that can be grown from its 4,000-person labour force.”
The Economic Development Office is working closely with an experienced consulting team to develop the Creative Rural Economy CIP. The consulting team has prepared community improvement plans for a number of other communities, including Chatham-Kent, St. Thomas and Trent Hills. The team also has extensive rural economic development and planning experience.
Rory Baksh of Dillon Consulting noted that “The innovative nature of the County’s CIP is perfectly matched to the unique businesses that are choosing to invest here. We are excited to collaborate with Dan Taylor and Jean Anne Carroll of the Economic Development Office, as well as local businesses and stakeholders, to support ongoing prosperity in the County.”