Minutes of Economic Development and Culture

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Electronic and In-Person Participation - Economic Development and Culture Committee
The Corporation of the Town of Orangeville
(Chair and Secretary at 200 Lakeview Court, Upper Level)
Orangeville, Ontario
Members Present:
  • Councillor Andrews
  • Chair S. Brown, Dufferin Board of Trade, Virtual 8 - 8:30 a.m.
  • L. Horne, Orangeville Real Estate Board
  • J. Patterson, Orangeville BIA
  • J. Small, Public Member
  • M. Vinden, Business community
  • S. Waqar, Public member, Virtual
Staff Present:
  • H. Savage, Gen. Mgr., Community Services
  • K. Lemire, Mgr., Economic Development & Culture
  • B. Lusk, Administrative Assistant

1.
Call to Order

 

Vice Chair Councillor Andrews called the meeting to order. 8 a.m.

1.1
Welcome new member - S. Waqar

 

Councillor Andrews welcomed our new member S. Waqar. 

2.
Disclosures of (Direct or Indirect) Pecuniary Interest

 

None.

3.
Adoption of Minutes of Previous Meeting

 
  • 2023-017
    Moved ByJ. Small

    That the minutes of the following meeting are approved:

    2023-10-17 Economic Development & Culture Committee Minutes

    Carried

4.
Presentations

 

None.

5.
Working Group Reports

 

5.1
Arts & Culture

 

No current activities to report.

6.
Items for Discussion and Reports

 

6.1
2024 Event ideas

 

K. Lemire provided a summary of the main events organized by the Economic Development & Culture office in 2023. Her report included analytics of each event in respect to attendance and post event feedback. She invited members to provide any ideas for new or improved events in 2024.

K. Lemire said that 97% of employers attending the job fair rated the event very good to excellent in a post event survey and would participate again in future. Councillor Andrews suggested that understanding how many employers hired as a result of the job fair would be valuable.

M. Vinden said that the job fair offers more than just recruitment support. It also creates networking opportunities for potential employers and employees. 

Councillor Andrews asked if there would be ways to include smaller employers who are unable to commit resources to participate in the job fair.

K. Lemire stated that a post-event survey for the Economic Outlook Breakfast reflected positive feedback and identified opportunities for improvements in 2024. 

K. Lemire said that declining enrollment in SBEC workshops was a challenge that the office faced earlier this year. New Fall workshops were delivered as interactive experiences and the small group sessions provided significant value-added learning for participants. All workshops were free of charge and attendance improved. 

K. Lemire said that Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E) projects were conducted for the Manufacturing sector in 2016, and for the Professional, Scientific and Technical Sector in 2019. She proposed that the EDCC use the BR&E reports as an opportunity to initiate business outreach and reconnection to engage with the business community in 2024. 

Note: Councillor Andrews requested a summary of the ideas generated from this discussion to be prepared by staff for the December meeting.

6.2
2024 meeting schedule

 

Councillor Andrews said that the Terms of Reference for the EDCC committee states that this committee meets quarterly. At the April 28, 2023 meeting the committee Chair proposed monthly meetings for a trial period of six months and agreed upon by the members.

The trial period ends in December and members expressed their favour to have meetings every second month beginning in 2024. K. Lemire said the establishment of working groups would allow members to engage with the business community between regular meetings and provide update reports to the committee members.

  • 2023-018
    Moved ByJ. Small

    That the Economic Development and Culture Committee will meet every second month in 2024.

    Carried

7.
Correspondence

 

None.

8.
Announcements

 

8.1
Member Sectoral Update

 

J. Patterson said that the BIA attended the Statutory Public Meeting held on November 6 regarding the proposed development of the Fairgrounds property and had an opportunity to provide comments. 

Councillor Andrews stated that the BIA's comments will be considered by the Planning Department and presented to Council for a decision to be made.

Councillor Andrews thanked the BIA for all festive decorations in the downtown.

Councillor Andrews delivered Chair S. Brown's DBOT report. The DBOT and Career Education Council recently hosted the Dream Dufferin/Career Pathways event on November 9. Over forty local companies and community associations participated in the event providing opportunities for 600+ students to explore and learn about career choices.

Councillor Andrews said that Town Council will receive the Town's proposed 2024 budget on November 27 and discussions will follow during the first week of December. He announced the Mayor's third Town Hall meeting on November 29. He spoke about progress led by the Homelessness Task Force and improvements at Dufferin Men's Shelter. He reminded the committee that the Orangeville Public Library's Mill Street branch is set to re-open on November 21.

M. Vinden reported that she had recently attended a 'Mastering Money' conference in Calgary that focused on the absence of financial literacy among younger Canadian adults. She said that the Chartered Professional Accountants Canada website has many online resources available to educate business students and business owners with financial training. 

L. Horne said residential listings had dropped down to eighty-five from the increase reported last month. She reported that detached houses were listed between $600K and $2,399K in Orangeville. She said that there have been thirty-one houses sold in the past thirty days. This was up from eighteen sold last month. L. Horne said the supply of fifteen condominiums were listed between $379K and $779K.

L. Horne said housing rental rates range from $1,500 to $4,200 per month. She reported that eleven commercial listings included businesses for sale as well as available retail and industrial space.

J. Small commented on the general timelines for the dissolution of Peel Region.

S. Waqar contributed innovative ideas for job seekers and reported that alternatives to written resumes are common in other countries. 

9.
Date of Next Meeting

 

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at 8 a.m.

10.
Adjournment

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:26 a.m.

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