Outside the box

In typical Vancouver fashion, a union leader, sustainable development consultant and community activist pull up their chairs alongside business types when the Vancouver Economic Development Commission sits down to talk.

The agency was overhauled last year when city council appointed a bulk of new members sporting a more socialist, er... social bent. The shake-up prompted the newly made-over VEDC – some of its members new to business altogether – to embark on a months-long process of soul-searching retreats and seminars to determine its raison d’être.

The new chair, Linda Caisley, a cheerful consultant who helps non-profit foundations manage their affairs, says city hall was wise to broaden economic development to “all organizations that work in the community, not just business people.”

“I think it was gutsy of them,” says Caisley, 39. “You have to look at economic development a little more creatively.”

We’ll see if the holistic approach pays off.

Is there enough hard-core business experience on the board? “That’s an ongoing piece for us,” she says.

The VEDC, which operates at arm’s length from city council on an annual budget of around $1 million, used to concentrate on marketing Vancouver to cities around the world as a desirable place to do business. That now falls to the new Greater Vancouver Economic Council, the long-awaited regional economic development effort that launched in April to promote the Lower Mainland as a whole. (Previous attempts at this have flopped miserably, but the run-up to the Games has been a powerful motivator.)

This will free up the VEDC to concentrate on retaining companies in Vancouver by making sure they have the services they need; responding to companies that contact Vancouver about relocating; and developing an economic plan for Vancouver. (Yes, it’s true – one does not exist. Some neighbourhoods have economic strategies, but not the city.)

In some ways, the new group is starting from scratch. Better late than never, but possibly too late for a number of the real issues. Case in point: tackling the serious lack of skilled trades workers in Vancouver is not a top priority, Caisley says. “It’s something we’re keeping our eye on.”