What is economic Development? Following the comments on economic development and job creation plus the Albion Flats Saga, it’s obvious that there are more opinions on what either of economic development or job creation actually are than there are participants. If there is any consensus at all, the majority only agree on one thing, build it as far away from their house as possible. This is familiar territory for me, as I served as the Chairman of the SCRD Economic Development Committee a few years ago. There is a great variance between the two extremes of developmental thought. Neither of the two extremes are viable. Letting businesses decide when, where and how to develop without oversight is not acceptable. Neither is having all development micromanaged and planned by government going to work either. What I see as the key to getting anything done is to getting a consensus on some broad guidelines of what the people want to see in a given area, as in retail, commercial, light or heavy industry, public use or a mix. We can’t get bogged down with Walmart vs. Staples, Superstore vs. Save-on types of discussion at this point. Once the preferred type of use is decided, then analyzing what type of development the area’s demographics would support within that category will give those responsible for promoting Economic Development a certain amount of a target to look for. As has been pointed out before, as businesses are squeezed out of city centers by land prices, zoning, traffic, and staffing difficulties, they are prime targets to convince to move here. Maple Ridge has a massive advantage in this process. With the Golden Ears Bridge and the Pitt Bridge in place, we have the ability to become a transportation hub for the north side of the River, which includes POCO, Coquitlam, New West, Port Moody and Burnaby. We can also justify warehousing of goods coming in by CP Rail Intermodal, and Highway 7 from the East to supply Langley and Surrey, and via Highway 17, Delta and Richmond. With the toll on the new Port Mann Bridge, we enjoy a time and cost advantage over Surrey and Langley for delivery to areas on the North side. For a service industry with service vehicles leaving in the morning, and returning at night, the Golden Ears Toll is not a deterrent to the overall savings in property, rent, staffing that could be realized by locating here. There are various areas in Maple Ridge that have a varying amount of services available. The key is to match land use with service to make development desirable to prospective businesses. As example, the Golden Ears Way/ 210 area has great access, great water, (as soon as the pump station goes on line), and three phase power. A bottled water plant, or a food processing plant needs these. Albion has Highway 7 access, power and a gas line, with reasonable access to the river, and has the train to bring in workers. Expanding the existing sawmilling and kiln drying to include value added manufacturing such as hardwood flooring or materials for fine woodworking is a potential use. Needless to say all of the simplistic suggestions here may or may not be viable, and are just examples. Development feeds on development. A stand alone business may not be viable without the welding shop next door to make parts, or the machinist down the block, or the delivery warehouse to bring in the materials and distribute the product. Ive started a Group https://facebook/groups/829755933732657/ on Facebook dedicated to Economic Development ideas in Maple Ridge where we can discuss the issue at length.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 06:43:20 +0000