One of the ways to measure the health of a community is to gather statistics about the obvious factors: health, education, poverty, employment, civic engagement and food production.
Powell River does that on a regular basis through the Vital Signs report. But some things rarely get measured and they are critical factors, too. This is especially true of agencies and institutions that have been around for a long time, so long they become part of the landscape, like buildings or landmarks.
I studied and write about economics and since arriving here eight years ago I have been unimpressed with official economic development efforts. There are always lots of stories about new businesses that are just around the corner, but somehow they never materialize, or fizzle like Sino Bright School. Municipal taxpayers pay a lot for City of Powell River’s economic development office, but I can’t think of any major businesses that have been established here as a direct result of the work of that office.
Is there a list somewhere of the number of new businesses setting up here exclusively because of that office? Is there a tally of the number of new jobs from those businesses? Lastly, is it not reasonable to scrutinize the effectiveness of this office, like we do of any public expenditure? Transparency and accountability are key aspects of a healthy democracy.
Advising on economic development in a rapidly changing economy requires a high level of expertise and experience. A case in point is the much-hyped “tech hub” being planned for Townsite. It is asking Powell River Community Forest for $200,000 and it is not clear to me that anyone at city hall or the community forest is qualified to assess the project.
In the April 12 Peak, city councillor Russell Brewer said he “likes the idea” but acknowledges that the PRCF has “only been presented with a relatively vague proposal and brief, two-page budget.”
That’s just not enough to justify handing over $200,000 of public money. Backing the project are the city’s economic development officer, Vancouver Island University and School District 47. What expertise the latter two bring to an extremely high risk and still vague proposal is not clear.
It is a bit disconcerting that the best advice the city is getting is from local residents writing letters to the Peak. John Wilkinson pointed out [“Comments of the week,” April 19] that Powell River currently “lacks almost all the key elements required to grow a tech industry from scratch.”
Wilkinson suggested we should use our community’s incredible beauty, affordability and fibreoptic internet service to attract existing tech companies in Vancouver whose employees cannot afford to live there.
As Wilkinson said, “Once Powell River has a critical mass of tech workers, small startups and satellite offices, you have created a natural tech incubator.”
That should be the city’s strategy.
Murray Dobbin is a Powell River freelance writer and social commentator.
