Canada/Rimouski creates its own economic development and tourism department
The City of Rimouski is moving ahead with the creation of its own economic development and tourism department. This new model is intended to provide similar services to those previously offered by the Société de promotion économique de Rimouski (SOPER).
As announced last February, employees of the new department will be responsible for assisting Rimouski entrepreneurs who wish to obtain financing for their projects through an access window created within this new City department.
This access point will save them from having to deal with the MRC in addition to the City, since it is the MRC de Rimouski-Neigette that manages the investment funds previously used by SOPER to support entrepreneurs.
SOPER declared bankruptcy in December. It acted as an economic development organization for the City of Rimouski and the Rimouski-Neigette RCM.
Rimouski mayor Guy Caron sees advantages in this new economic development model over a not-for-profit organization like SOPER.
One advantage is that we have more control. An NPO was more remote, more distant. That can be an advantage in terms of flexibility, but it can [lead to] accountability problems," he maintains.
We're going to create the service within the City's own framework, [which] will allow us flexibility and the achievement of common objectives with the City of Rimouski.
A quote from Guy Caron, Mayor of Rimouski
Guy Caron also believes that having entrepreneurs deal with the Economic Development and Tourism Department will enable them to get all the help they need from the same place.
The advantage of having [the economic development and tourism department] in the city is that it can be linked to different departments. For example, to the urban planning department for different elements such as the sale of commercial land, the sale of industrial land. So, having a link with the economic development and tourism department will have definite advantages," continues the mayor.
He also explains that the department will report to the general management. The City Council will therefore not have to ratify any decisions made there.
[Even] if the City Council determines the major orientations, it is not the City Council that will have to make direct decisions on the day-to-day operations of the department," explains the mayor.
Economic development budget unchanged
The budget allocated to this new service will be approximately $1.4 million annually. This sum represents the budget Rimouski already allocated to SOPER and the MRC for economic development.
According to Guy Caron, the city will be hiring a director in the next few weeks.
He adds that the town wishes to do things differently from the way SOPER did things, notably by improving communications with citizens about the operation of the new service and its support procedures.
A person will therefore be hired to manage communications and social media concerning Rimouski's economic and tourism development.
A number of existing City employees have been reassigned to this department, which should be ready to welcome the public in May.
In all, some ten people should be employed by this service, in addition to a few seasonal workers.
Creation of an economic forum
The City of Rimouski is also announcing the creation of an Economic Forum to be held every two years.
The aim of this event is to create a gathering place for Rimouski's business community to get to know it better and identify its needs, through workshops and networking activities.
Entrepreneurs will be able to discover the new municipal service at the Economic Forum to be held on April 29 at the Hotel Rimouski.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Rimouski strategic advisor Marina Soubirou reaffirmed the city's desire to work closely with entrepreneurs.
The city has been sounding out their needs over the past few months.
At the forum, we'll be able to go into a little more detail about the needs that have been shared, because it's on the basis of these needs that we're building what we want to do.It's from these needs that we're building next year's activities, and then prioritizing them with our companies," explained Ms. Soubirou.
Source: ici.radio-canada.ca
