The City of Victoria understands the need for a strong economy to provide a sound foundation for supporting the entire community, and to that end is developing an Economic Development Strategy promote infrastructure investments, business recruitment and retention, strategic partnerships, development incentives and the marketing of Greater Victoria.
The goal is to produce an Economic Development Strategy that is fiscally, economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.
A diverse group of local business representatives have been working to develop this strategy and are now asking for input from the public. They have prepared a discussion paper for public review and comment.
Hard copies of this proposal and the workbook for public input will also be available at a Public Forum on the Victoria Economic Development Strategy, being held on June 8th, 2011 at Victoria City Hall from 3:00 to 8:00pm.
The format of the public forum is drop-in and will feature a series of group discussions covering 5 specific topics. Details may be found on the forum schedule.
The purpose of the Economic Development Strategy is to:
- Assess the City’s realistic economic development and employment growth prospects in the short, medium and long term
- Identify opportunities to strengthen and diversify the local economy
- Identify the subset of opportunities that are focused on environmental services, green technology, sustainable building strategies and environmentally friendly sectors of the economy
- Learn from and incorporate best practices and state of the art experience from other cities
- Identify specific actions related to business retention and business attraction
- Suggest future directions for business and industrial development
- Aim to position Victoria as one of the world’s most sustainable local economies, with sustainability and environmental awareness embedded deeply in all aspects of the economic plan
- Suggest relationships between the City’s economic development strategies and actions and those of other communities in the area and the Capital Regional District
- Aim for economic growth that contributes to the fiscal sustainability of the City of Victoria
- Propose practical metrics that can be used to gauge the City’s progress in meeting its economic development, sustainability, community benefits, and social equity objectives
If you are interested in the economic future of Victoria and the Capital Regional District, and issues such as sustainability, social equity, infrastructure development and business recruitment and retention, and would like to participate in this important economic development strategy, don’t miss this opportunity to have your voice heard. The Public Forum on the Economic Development Strategy is being held on June 8th, 2011at Victoria City Hall from 3:00 to 8:00pm.
