In the spring of 2014, Sidney’s then-mayor Cross struck a mayor’s downtown revitalization task force and I was appointed vice-chair to Mark Dickinson’s chairman. Mr. Dickinson led a cross-functional team of dedicated citizens, representatives from the chamber of commerce, Sidney BIA, as well as town staff to renew the economic development strategy for Sidney. Going in, we knew there were several iterations of well-intentioned committees in the past and we mused would we be able to forge a new strategy.
Hours were spent in the Arbutus Room at town hall over several months on a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, prioritizing an action registry and producing a report to present to council on our findings. The council of the day accepted the report just prior to the civic election.
Mayor Cross retired and a new council reviewed and ratified the report which provided four pillars for success and a roadmap to achieve them. It included the recommendation to establish an economic development committee of citizens willing to ‘roll up their sleeves’ to operationalize the recommendations. If this model wasn’t successful after a year or so, it was recommended that a consultant be engaged to fine-tune the strategy and the tactics.
The EDC was formed and quite frankly was ineffective due to several strong personalities with differing agendas and goals. Members resigned, new members stepped in, but it became clear that ‘Plan B’ needed to be effected. The EDC is still an entity in the town but I am pleased to see that cooler heads have prevailed and a consulting firm with expertise in this area has been engaged.
I applaud this decision and sincerely hope the contract deliverables can leverage the town’s strengths and mitigate any perceived weaknesses in support of a vibrant business economy.
Brian Losie
Sidney
