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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