With staff now in place, the city is cobbling together a group to point its new economic development department in the right direction.
City council established a new economic development advisory committee Monday night, chaired by Mayor Lyn Hall.
According to the new group's terms of reference, the committee will be made up of up to 16 members from the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Business Improvement Association, P.G. Airport Authority, Tourism Prince George, Lheidli T'enneh, UNBC, CNC and the P.G. Construction Association, as well as the community at large with experience in areas such as forestry, agriculture, healthcare, education and retail.
Community spots on the committee will be filled via the city's committee application process.
The committee's mandate, as approved by council, will be to "strengthen communication and collaboration between the city of Prince George and its respective economic development partners while informing the development of an economic development strategy" for the city.
In mid-June, shortly after announcing that Initiatives Prince George would be dissolved as the city's external economic development branch, city council established a committee meant to guide the creation of new internal operation. This included figuring out necessary staffing levels. That group never materialized, but hiring went forward.
Melissa Barcellos came on as the new economic development manager on Sept. 28, and three other related staff members have been hired since.
The group has taken over the former community partnerships space on the first floor of city hall, officially moving out of the Via Rail building on First Avenue in October.
Last week, city council approved a 2016 budget of $732,410 for the economic development group.
Barcellos recently accompanied city manager Kathleen Soltis on a trip to China, as part of the Premier Christy Clark's trade mission from
Oct. 30 to Nov. 7.
In a report to council from Soltis, the pair were among representatives from six B.C. municipalities, one First Nation and more than 140 companies and community groups (including the Prince George airport).
The $12,300 trip took Soltis and Barcellos to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen where they "attended educational sessions, met business and government officials, and provided economic development support to potential investors," said Soltis's report. That money came out of operational funds, said Soltis.
According to Soltis, five memorandums of understanding were signed between local businesses/organizations and Chinese organizations during the trip. One of these concerned perishable food item import and export by air, two focused on co-operation in international education, one related to B.C. lumber as an alternative supply source for manufacturing and one related to exploring investment opportunities in northern B.C.
Though Coun. Brian Skakun said he would have liked to see advance notice or discussion publicly about the trip, he said the cost is reasonable and that developing those relationships with the Chinese is valuable.
Coun. Jillian Merrick said the fact that the trip was part of the premier's mission, it was more significant than a one-off trip.
"This is not some hokey-pokey junket that we send across the sea," said Merrick. "This is a big deal and the premier certainly has connections to major players across the Pacific."
