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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEDC 2020-07-15 minutes.pdfCity of Maple Ridge ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Economic Development Committee, held on-line via ZOOM Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 5 pm ____________________________________________________________________________________ COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Dominic Kotarski, Chair Community at Large Camilla Brown Community at Large Chrislana Gregory Community at Large Al Hogarth Community at Large James Zelinski Community at Large Councillor Yousef City of Maple Ridge STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Wendy Dupley Staff Liaison / Director, Economic Development Bruce Livingstone Business Retention and Expansion Officer, Economic Development Karen Hansen Administrative Assistant, Economic Development REGRETS/ABSENTS Tom Meier Community at Large 1.CALL TO ORDER There being a quorum present the Chair called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm 2.AGENDA ADOPTION R20-07 It was moved and seconded That the Agenda of July 15, 2020 be adopted CARRIED 3.MINUTE ADOPTION R20-08 It was moved and seconded That the Minutes of April 9, 2020 be amended to change the wording of R20-05 to read: It was moved and seconded that Council explores opportunities to develop the waterfront areas of Maple Ridge. EDC Minutes July 15, 2020 Page 2 of 4 CARRIED MINUTE ADOPTION (Cont’d) R20-09 It was moved and seconded That the Minutes of April 9, 2020 be adopted. CARRIED (on-line post meeting) 4.NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS 4.1 Maple Ridge Economic Report June 2020: Ms. Dupley introduced the Maple Ridge Economic report which was produced by the staff from the economic development office in Maple Ridge. The document provides an overview of the economy including key COVID-19 related economic impacts, mitigations and recovery planning effort. It was noted that the number of job postings is not completely accurate as it doesn’t account for job postings where more than one person is hired, however, it does provide a good gage of the job market fluctuations. 4.2 E-Commerce Pilot Program: Ms. Dupley reported that the City of Maple Ridge, Digital Main Street (Google) and Shop Here (Shopify) is looking for 25 Businesses to participate in an e-commerce pilot program where up to 4 students will work with a business to develop an e-commerce web site. Each business will get training and receive additional marketing support. The e-commerce website created will be free of any maintenance costs for 3 months, after which it will be $40 per month. The estimated average cost per project is $19,000 but all businesses participating in this pilot will be provided with the above free of charge. 5.STAFF LIAISON UPDATE 5.1 Community Leaders Forum: This year, the Economic Development Department is recommending hosting a virtual Community Leaders Forum on the evening of Wednesday, October 14 using the same Zoom platform that is currently used to host Council meetings. The Economic Development Department has secured Brock Dickinson, Entrepreneur in Residence and Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo, as the keynote speaker and moderator for this event. 5.2 Fraser Valley Alliance Technology Attraction Strategy Update: Mr. Livingstone reported that MDB has completed the research phase of the “Regional Technology Sector Capacity & Investment Attraction Strategy” project and has EDC Minutes July 15, 2020 Page 3 of 4 produced a draft analysis of their findings for the region as a whole as well as for each of the communities involved in the project. The final report is scheduled to be completed by mid-September and presented to Council in October. EDC Minutes July 15, 2020 Page 4 of 4 6.DISCUSSION RE FUTURE ENDEAVOURS FOR EDC Areas of interest for the Economic Development Committee included: Creation of an economic Development Strategy Area Plans Land Strategies 8.ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 pm. Chair, Dominic Kotarski /kh