Municipalities

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Municipalities RED Moving Forward

• Municipal Symposium
• May 12, 2007

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Outline

• What We Have Learned
• What We Can Do
• Municipal Entrepreneurship
• Partnership for Development

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What We Have Learned
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Think Regional

• As much a mindset as a geographic reality
• Not centralization
• Services, not Councils

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Communication and Cooperation

• Focus on the job, not jurisdiction
• Clear, regular communications with stakeholders
• Formalized communications

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Build on Your Strengths

• Need to know what you do better than others
• Comparative Advantage
• Need to know what people want
• Competitive Advantage
• Focus your limited resources
• Be willing to say No
• Planreally

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Keep It Simple

• Dont try to do too much
• Dont over-think ideas or projects
• Dont over-invest
• Dont try to involve everyone unless you need
  everyone

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Know Your Role

• Build your role based on your municipal tools
  things no one else can do
• You cant do it all
• Know when to lead, partner and support

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What We Can Do
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Regional Economic Development

• Isnt that someone elses job?
• Local Impact
• Tax Base
• Land Development
• Infrastructure
• Leadership
• means local responsibility

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What Can We Do?

• Development Controls
• Zoning
• Permits
• Human Resources
• Financial Resources
• Borrowing Capacity
• Taxation

• Equity Stake
• Land and Building Ownership
• Company Ownership
• Democratic Legitimacy
• Brokering Capacity
• Between others
• With others (partnerships)

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Municipal Entrepreneurship
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Municipal Entrepreneurship

• Municipality invests in business opportunities
• Usually where private sector not investing
• Based on place-based development
• Niche oriented
• Local planning
• Exploit local strengths
• Increasingly popular in areas of high
  unemployment Europe and USA
• For Example Akureyri

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Municipal Entrepreneurship

• Challenges to municipal entrepreneurship
• Most examples are in Europe
• Generally centralist view from higher levels of
  government
• Our risk averse culture
• Opportunities
• Increased and improved service delivery based on
  local needs
• More sustainable municipalities
• New channels for community pride

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Local Examples

• Tend to be community enterprise versus
  municipal
• Co-ops
• Municipal Ownership
• Community-Based Organization

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Partnership for Development
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LADR Resources

• Workshops
• Research
• Study Tours
• Newsletter - Ascent
• Website
• LADR Toolkit/Program

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Partnerships

• ACOA
• INTRD
• NLREDA
• MOU (joint panel at Symposium, joint panel at
  Pan-Provincial, REDB participation in workshops)
• CBDCs
• Attending workshops, investment advice?)
• Hospitality NL

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Discussion

• Support to municipalities
• What are the priorities?
• Support to REDB municipal reps
• What are the priorities?
• Delivering Support
• What format?
• Who should lead? Partner?

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Thank-you!

• www.nlfm.ca/ladr