By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 7, 2011 – It was perhaps appropriate for the Annual General Meeting of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) to take place at the Paletta Mansion. The site has history and wealth attached to it; first when it was given to Laura Secord by the British Crown for her role in the War of 1812. Secord, a Canadian heroine had alerted the British of a American attack plan. The property went through a number of hands before it was bought by Cyrus Albert Birge who used the property as a summer playground.
When Birge died suddenly in 1929 he left a fortune to his daughter Edythe Merriam MacKay who built the mansion we use today with her inheritance. Those years were different times and the monied set lived a life of leisure. Birge had amassed quite a fortune when her merged a screw manufacturing company into what eventually came to be known as the Steel Company of Canada.
The property’s mansion ranks among the finest representations of great estate homes designed and built in Burlington in the two decades between 1912 and 1932, and was the last of its kind and quality to be built in Burlington. Paletta hardly gets a mention in the literature – he put up a couple of million dollars to pay for the purchase when it looked as if the city was not going to be able to acquire the site.
Some 75 people gathered for the AGM to approve a financial report (which had a surplus) and install a new board of Directors that has five more directors than Royal Bank of Canada.
Leo DeLoyde, former General Manager of Development and Infrastructure for the city of Burlington and also a former CEO of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation before it was spun off as the stand alone organization it is today was on hand.
Stranger shows up for a service award and a free dinner. Leo DeLoyde talks with fellow guest at the BEDC AGM
The BEDC had a decent 2010 with 42% of its revenue coming from the city and 68% from other grants and revenue it generates..
The incoming chair is John Chisholm, Partner and CEO of SB Partners who will serve a two year term. He is joined by Louise St-Pierre, Senior Vice President, Residential Services, Cogeco Cable Canada LP , Paul Subject, President, STANMECH Technologies Inc. and Ruta Stauskas, Vice President, Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd.
The BEDC reported 852 new jobs were brought to Burlington in 2010, 27% of which were created in the professional services field. The organization had a construction target of 400,000 sq ft of new space for Burlington and brought in 380,000. Overall, the organization was just a little shy on most of its target which was seen as acceptable given that the Canadian economy is just pulling away from a rather savage recession in the United States.
John Chisholm, CEO of SB Partners starts a two year term as Chair of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation. He leads an organization that weathered a recession – tough act to follow.
The future hope for the BEDC lay in the new initiatives that were put in place – the most successful being the Rapid Response Team, a concept developed by Executive Director Kyle Benham. As he explained the concept – there are situations where a deal is close to closing but there are still significant outstanding issues. That is when Benham is able to call on a team of people that is flexible and immediately available. A closing deal may require some input from a financier, help from the city planning department, some give on the part of a developer; – each situation is different. What is consistent however is the need for a rapid response to the situation that needs that little extra, last minute push in order to close.
“We can do that in a city the size of Burlington” explains Benham “because while we are not a huge city there is a depth of talent that is accessible and immediately available.
We’ve pulled together Rapid Response teams in a number of situations and while we are not always successful it isn’t because we didn’t have the talent we needed.” Burlington is one of a few municipalities in Ontario that can deploy this type of talent which is seen as a Best Practice in the economic development field.
Another BEDC initiative is the evolution of the work force in the community. Having the deGroote school of Business unit of McMaster University in Burlington gives us access to an academic institution many communities don’t have and that is a big draw for people looking for a community in which to locate. The BEDC is also continuing with the Next Generation Manufacturing Project. The changes taking place in 21st century manufacturing make it imperative for corporations to be on top of what is happening. We are able to do develop this kind of program and make it available to the manufacturing sector.
The BEDC is continually improving its investment profile, which is the image and view that the world has of Burlington. “Our job” explains Benham, “is to create am image for Burlington that makes us an attractive choice for companies that want to locate in a stable, safe community that is very close to its markets.
It was the way the BEDC had chosen to improve and develop that profile that got a bit of a rough ride at a Council committee meeting where the planned budget for 2011 was discussed. Benham had plans to visit Appledoorn, our sister city in Europe, to try and entice a Dutch company to locate in Burlington. Council didn’t get very excited about that idea.
Kyle Benham takes the BEDC through another AMG – this time he has a surplus to show for his efforts.
Mark Gregory eases out of a two year stint as chair of the BEDC and looks forward to the next community service task.
Nor did council fully take to the explanation that the development of small business in Burlington was best done at the Regional level. Council felt that five new small business operations that create 25 jobs is realistic, but that bringing in a large corporation that will create 125 new jobs was very hard to achieve. Much more so for Burlington which doesn’t have any class A office space in the downtown core.
It was evident that there was a bit of tension between city council and the BEDC as to where they should be looking for those new jobs everyone wants to see come to Burlington. Most economic forecasters believe that small business is the best driver of economic growth in Ontario and that that is where the effort to build local economies should be focused
At his Q&A with members of the Chamber of Commerce earlier this month Mayor Rick Goldring mentioned that he wanted to see and was working towards more Small Business creation in the city.
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