Economic Development Action Plan

The Purpose of the Plan
The Economic Development Action Plan is intended to help guide Collingwood’s economic development activities and priorities for five year periods, with a focus on those action items over which the Town of Collingwood has direct control.

Developing the Next Plan
The Town of Collingwood’s vision is to offer a healthy, affordable, four-season lifestyle to all residents, businesses, and visitors. The Community Based Strategic Plan sets a vision for Collingwood as a vibrant, healthy community where people want to live and work. Funding the services to make this lifestyle possible requires a diversified local economic base that is attractive to a variety of businesses, industries, as well as entrepreneurs.

That’s why the Town has started working on its next Economic Development Action Plan. This plan will define the areas of focus for the Town and its partners, complimenting the broader Community Based Strategic Plan. Developing the next Economic Development Action Plan is a major project. The Town has as a result hired strategic consultants to help guide the process and act as quality control. The approach they have recommended is one that engages local business leaders and the broader business community.

Why do we need to develop an Economic Development Action Plan?
To diversify the tax base. This allows the municipality to fund the services that make Collingwood an attractive place to live and work.

What are the deliverables of this plan?
The project mandate focuses on producing an Economic Development Action Plan that will market & sell Collingwood to investors & employers. The plan, when completed, will include:

• Evidenced-based analysis of strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats and key strategic takeaways
• A validated vision for ‘why’ invest in Collingwood
• A clear set of measurable objectives and the system for measuring them
• A set of validated strategies and tactics through qualitative and/or quantitative public consultations
• A prioritized, simple action plan, required human & financial resources

How will the plan get developed?
The framework for this project involves:

• A strategic facilitator to guide the process and quality
• A business “advisory team” of experts to draft a plan
• Staff to source evidence for corroborating the plan
• Engagement with the business community to validate the plan
• Staff collaboration with strategic facilitator to write the report

When will it get developed?
The project has already started with the hiring of the strategic consultant and collection of background information. Plan development and business community engagement will continue into the new year, so that it can be approved by Council in early 2020.

Who will develop the plan?
The Mayor’s Advisory Team on Economic Development is being created to draft the plan along with Staff and the strategic consultant. We are currently seeking experienced business leaders who are connected to Collingwood to sit on this Advisory Team.

• The team of 12-15 business experts will bring a diverse perspective to two full-day work sessions in Collingwood on November 25 and 26.
• The people who will be selected for this Advisory Team need to be actively involved in operating, investing in and/or hold a senior position in on or several areas of expertise to ensure diversity of thought leadership.
• Prior to the 2 day work session the strategic consultant will meet with them to better understand their ideas and perspectives.

Will the broader business community be able to get involved?
Yes. There will be several ways to get involved including;

• sharing ideas and perspectives this fall through Engage Collingwood, a portal for soliciting feedback on projects like this.
• attending the presentation of the draft plan to Council early in 2020
• participating in a public engagement forum to discuss the draft plan

How can I get involved in developing the next plan?

• Keep watching www.collingwood.ca for updates on the various events and surveys.
• Thank you to all who applied to join the Mayor’s Advisory Team on Economic Development (deadline for applications was Tuesday, October 8, 2019). Stay tuned for updates on the Mayor’s Advisory Team on Economic Development.