$165,000 economic development survey will address the future of Prescott-Russell

The region's municipal, provincial, and federal organizations have partnered up this summer, set to undertake and analyze the results of a community-wide survey on the future of economic development in Prescott-Russell.

The $165,000 project, paid for mostly through federal and provincial funding, will see multiple organizations meet for one-on-one interviews with key residents and entrepreneurs; host two focus group sessions alongside economic development and tourism stakeholders; request the advice of the public regarding the economic future of the region; and, hopefully, implement the findings of the report - expected this coming autumn - all in the name of the Prescott-Russell Strategic Economic Plan.

The partners are the Prescott-Russell Community Development Corporation (PRCDC), the Eastern Ontario Training Board (EOTB), the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR), as well as the governments of Ontario and Canada.

EOTB executive director Denis Thibault explained the project began with the hiring of a consulting firm, Millier Dickinson Blais, to prepare an economic development strategic plan for the region.

"The whole idea is to get as much information as possible, including feedback from the business community, the non-profit community, various levels of politicians, and the public, to help identify some of the issues," said Thibault. "At the end of the day, there can be a plan that comes from the people and, since we have an election coming up, it will generate a lot of discussion, and potentially will offer the newly-elected officials a map of what you - as a member of community - feel are the important issues that need to be addressed by politicians and administrations, including at the municipal and counties levels. Business organizations will also consider part of it as good information in order to move forward."

To that effect, invitations were sent out by the PRCDC to a small group of stakeholders from the business and community development sectors, requesting their attendance at a focus group session on Tuesday, July 27 in Casselman or on Wednesday, July 28 in Hawkesbury.

Sylvain Charlebois, economic development and tourism coordinator for the UCPR, said last week that the counties are currently in the consultation phase, conducting one-on-one interviews with additional stakeholders. Those who cannot attend, as well as the rest of the public, are invited to complete the survey online before July 30 (see link below).

"Every businessperson and taxpayer is a stakeholder and has a right to say something," he noted. "So far, [the interview process] is going very well, with more than 30 people interviewed and, as of last Friday (July 9), over 80 surveys were completed."

He specified most of the surveys came from members of local chambers of commerce, and "people who have an interest" in the economic development of the region, noting it was a challenge to attract the majority of the public to participate in this type of survey.

"All the information will be compiled in August by the consultants, and we hope to have a first draft by early September," he continued. "The report will also include an action plan, suggestions as to what we should be aiming for. We (the UCPR) hope the action plan will be adopted by all stakeholders - just the counties working alone we can't do everything - that's the point and that's why we're doing this."

Asked whether the organizers were concerned about people being on vacation or away during the summer season, Charlebois replied the online survey provides such people the opportunity to participate.

He also added the counties council has refused to pay anything toward the $165,000 cost of the project, and is instead offering in-kind support. Most of the project funding is a result of federal and provincial funding programs, either through the participating partner organizations - some of which are federal or provincial - or through additional grants.

Thibault said following the summer project, consulting firm Millier Dickinson Blais is expected to present "a completed and finished product" to counties council as well as other municipal councils in Prescott-Russell, with the hope that they will consider endorsing the plan - if the suggestions are considered worthwhile.

"We don't know what is going to be said, but we're basing [the project] on a proven process that has been utilized by other communities," Thibault told The Review this week. "Hopefully, it will be a cornerstone of how and whether Prescott-Russell can continue to move forward in its socio-economic development."

For its part, he explained, the EOTB is focused on local workforce development, and its reason for partnering up in the strategic economic plan is because it needs "to get a feel for what needs to be addressed in Prescott-Russell's workforce development."

"[The region] has been hit over the head a few times," he continued, noting the local manufacturing sector has suffered in recent times and the economic focus is now on tourism development and service sector-related jobs.

"But do we need to spend more time on agriculture, and if so, how do we create new jobs, how do we address the level of education in Prescott-Russell? People may be wondering, 'Why isn't this happening?' But does anyone else besides you know what you are thinking? That's why we are doing this survey."

As another example, Thibault explained that many of the residents living in Russell County tend to work in Ottawa, thereby creating a need for a small amount of service industry jobs to serve those residents - and not much else. On the other hand, "Prescott County is a different situation, so you need to create jobs other than service jobs in Prescott, from my perspective. We also have a situation where, because of the type of jobs that are found in Ottawa, the level of education is generally lower in Prescott than Russell, so there are many things to consider [in this survey].

"As the local training board, our role is to work with the community leaders to elevate the level of education overall, but also to identify the issues that need to be address for new businesses to come set up in Prescott. The question is, how do we develop a workforce for the future? And so it was natural that we wanted to be a partner in this."

The public is invited to provide comments online until Friday, July 30, by clicking on the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J7R8R3Y.