Economic Development Advisory Committee

Committee Minutes

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Electronic Meeting
Present:
  • Councillor A. Owodunni, Member
  • Margaret Johnston
  • Chuck Howitt, Chair
  • J. Malfara, Member
  • M. Lam, Member
  • M. Krushack, Member
  • P. Kreutner, Member
  • S. Desikachar, Member
  • J. Curto, Member
  • M. Bingeman, Member
Staff:
  • Cory Bluhm
  • Brian Bennett
  • N. Nandakumar, Committee Administrator
  • Jennifer Sandoval Penilla

1.
Commencement

 

A virtual meeting of the Economic Development Advisory Committee was held at 11:05 a.m. on January 22, 2025. Chaired by Chuck Howitt and Joe Curto. 

2.
Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof

 

None

3.
Delegations

 

None

4.
Information Items

 

4.1
Advisory Committee Training and Orientation

20 m
 

M. Mills provided an Advisory Committee Overview to the committee members that included: the roles and responsibilities of the advisory committee and its members, meeting procedure, the expected code of conduct 

M.Mills also addressed questions Q&A's from the members after the presentation. 

5.
Discussion Items

 

5.1
Chair and Vice-Chair Selection

15 m
 

Mark Bingeman nominated Joe Curto as Chair and Joe Curto nominated Margaret Lam for Vice Chair. 

Both motions were unanimous.

5.2
Bloomberg/Harvard Health Innovation Debrief

15 m
 

City of Kitchener participated in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative which is a collaboration between Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. It aims to equip city leaders and senior city officials to tackle complex challenges in their cities and improve the quality of life by aiding them with research and  tools to solve read-world problems.

C.Bluhm provided the following insights regarding program -

  • The program was attended by a total of 60 city officials and leaders from 11 cities from the United States, Canada, and Finland. 
  • The program combines In-person and Virtual sessions. 
  • The delegation from City of Kitchener included :
    • Cory Bluhm(Executive Director, Economic Development)
    • Dan Chapman (Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
    • Naudia Banton (Manager - Waterloo Region Small Business Centre)
    • Elliot Fung (Executive Director - Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX)
    • Moazam Khan (Director of Velocity Health)
  • Metroverse  -  a platform built at Harvard University was used to provide economic data to the City officials. 
  • Metroverse helps to  provide insights about the following :
    • The economic composition of a city
    • Areas of specialization 
    • Cities that are similar
    • City’s position in the Industry Space
    • Growth opportunities
  • Kitchener's Economic composition consists of:
    •    Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
    • Leisure and Hospitality
    • Education and health services
  • C.Bluhm plans to share further insights from the program to the committee in the upcoming meetings. 

5.3
Annual Work Plan - 2025

40 m
 

C. Bluhm invited the committee members to propose  key discussion points, initiatives and concerns that they also want to see on the 2025 EDAC Workplan.

Committee suggestions were:

  • Updates on Bloomberg Harvard – Ongoing
  • Homeless Issues - Safety, Shelters, Transit safety
  • Review/Discuss effectiveness of Tech Incubators – ROI on municipal investment activities/initiatives.
  • Commercial and Industrial real estate growth and development – Trends
  • Arts and Culture tourism – Film creation hub, A&C – plan, road map & master plan
  • Business Outreach – March
  • DTK Updates
  • Bramm Yards
  • King/Victoria – Multi-Modal transit hub
  • Sub-Committee formation & focus

6.
Adjournment

 

On motion, this meeting adjourned at 12.40 p.m.

 

Navitha Nandakumar
Committee Administrator

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