McQUARRIE – Economic Development – Are you a wind vane or the wind?
FOR THE PAST DECADE, the City’s approach to economic development seemed focussed on the Ajax mine. There was talk of economic diversification, usually about high-tech but little in the way of real and substantive work on diversification was undertaken.
Similar to the Performing Arts Centre, there was no Plan B for the post Ajax rejection period. No strategy, no goals, no meaningful budget, no timelines for developing our economy and no apparent understanding of the impact this lack of planning would have on our economy in the years ahead.
High-tech was the misunderstood saviour and go-to empty response when politicians were asked, “but what if”.
The tech sector does and should continue to play a role in developing our new economy but even there, it needs focused help from the City.
Bill McQuarrie is a Kamloops entrepreneur. He can be contacted at billmcquarrie@gmail.com. He tweets @bafflegabbed.
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