Economic development activities will be front and centre in New Westminster in 2014.
The economic development work plan for 2014 /2015 focuses on five main goals: supporting and strengthening the city’s economic base; promoting and marketing New Westminster; fostering a business-friendly culture at city hall; advocating, liaising and being a resource for businesses, investors and developers; and promoting business recruitment and retention.
Blair Fryer, the city’s manager of communications and economic development, said the city will be hosting its economic forum on Oct. 2 at Anvil Centre, and looks forward to showing it off and highlighting New Westminster as a great place to invest.
“That is going to be a tremendous economic generator downtown,” he said. “We are happy to play a role in that success.”
Free meetings
The city is exploring the idea of allowing residents’ associations to hold meetings in civic facilities for free.
A staff report stated that residents’ associations in New Westminster have expressed concern about the lack of affordable or free space for their monthly meetings.
Council received a recommendation from an October 2013 residents’ association forum to inform the city’s parks, culture and recreation department of the policy that allows residents’ associations to hold meetings at no cost at facilities such as Century House. Council forwarded the recommendation to the parks department for investigation and response.
