Both the City and County of Peterborough are moving forward with plans to take economic development and tourism activities back in-house come 2025.
A four-year agreement between both municipalities and Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) for the provision of economic development services, formalized in December 2019 and subsequently extended for a fifth year, will expire on December 31, 2024.
While a motion for a decision to not renew the agreement has yet to come before city council, it appears the City of Peterborough has already communicated that decision to both PKED and the County of Peterborough.
Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal confirmed to kawarthaNOW a staff report will be presented to councillors “in the not too distant future” that “will take a look at how a reconstituted, reconstructed economic development division under the city’s umbrella would function and operate.”
Asked where the idea originated that the agreement not be renewed, Mayor Leal referenced the January 8th general committee meeting where he says the suggestion was first floated by PKED itself during a presentation of its quarterly activities by PKED board chair Burton Lee, board vice-chair Paul Hickey, and president and CEO Rhonda Keenan.
Not so, says Lee.
“We didn’t decide to have the city and county stop funding economic development through PKED,” Lee says, adding “We don’t get to tell them who to fund.”
“I don’t know how decisions are made at City Hall, but they (the city) sent us a letter saying they are not extending the tri-party agreement.”
At the January 8th general committee meeting, councillor Kevin Duguay had asked Lee and Keenan, “Could a comparable and meaningful economic development service be delivered, if it was housed in a different organizational structure — using your staff resources — and a more robust involvement from city council?”
Two months later, at the March 11th general committee meeting when council discussed a request from the Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas to defer a loan from the city, Mayor Leal referred to an upcoming staff report on economic development — and suggested the city may also want to include the work of the Innovation Cluster.
“As we prepare ourselves to receive a report on how the future of how economic development is going to be handled in the City of Peterborough, we may want to look at including the Innovation Cluster, because it seems to me they’re an integral part of our economic development model — whichever one we choose, in-house, going forward — to take advantage of what they’re doing that would be, I think, the appropriate approach when we start to have that discussion in the not-foreseeable (sic) future.”
Meanwhile, in a statement sent to kawarthaNOW, the County of Peterborough confirms it is “undertaking a strategic transition of economic development and tourism services from a regional platform to in-house operations.”
To that end, a committee — comprised of Warden Bonnie Clark, Selwyn Mayor Sherry Senis, Douro-Dummer Mayor Heather Watson, and Havelock-Belmont-Bethuen Mayor Jim Martin along with some county and township staff — is working to “formulate a comprehensive strategy for seamlessly integrating economic development and tourism services within the County post-2024.”
The statement adds “We are confident that through this proactive approach and collective approach, we will effectively navigate this transition.”
It also clarifies that “the decision to transition these vital services stems from the recent notice received from the City of Peterborough regarding the non-renewal of the agreement” for 2025 and beyond. That “recent notice” from the city was not included with the statement.
For his part, Lee is anxious to hear what city staff’s proposed plan for the provision of the programs and services that PKED provides will look like.
“We don’t know yet what the plans are from the city and county as of January 1st, 2025, but we’re certainly really excited to find out because it’s a very important and a very big task,” he says.
Asked if all or some current PKED staff won’t be retained under any new structure, Lee admits “it’s possible,” adding quickly “We just don’t know yet.”
“PKED is working with legal counsel to ensure that our people able to continue to do their work to the best of their abilities. They are considered some of the best in the country at what they do. They are continuing to do that work as best they can given the environment that we’re in.”
“It’s not my place to comment on what their strategy is going to be. I just hope it’s well thought-out and comes in a very timely manner. Ultimately, PKED is concerned about the prosperity of the region economically. Without a good plan, it’s very hard to do that work.”
As for PKED staff morale during a time when so much is unknown, Lee says “any environmental change that’s out of your control is going to cause challenges.”
“The PKED board understands that our folks add tremendous value to the community and we want to make sure they can continue to do that. If that means there’s an opportunity for them to work at City Hall, we just don’t now yet because we haven’t seen the plan.”
Asked what his level of confidence is in the city and county’s ability to provide the same level of program and services that PKED provides, Lee says “I’m confident that they could.”
“There are examples of municipalities that have taken this work on directly that have been successful. Certainly there’s precedent for this model to work. But until we see that plan, I can’t predict or be in a position to analyze because there’s nothing to analyze.”
“I think are a lot of really important considerations that need to be made really quickly in terms of tourism. Tourism is extremely regional. If it’s only the city or only the county doing that work on their own, we will lose the economy of scale. Very few people come to this region and only dip their toe in the city or county. It’s almost always both. From a tourism marketing perspective, you need to work regionally.”
On that point, at least, Lee and Mayor Leal are on the same page.
“It would be my view that we (the city) continue to share the tourism aspect of economic development with the county because many of the attractions cover both the city and county,” says Mayor Leal. “We just think a new direction needs to be taken to sharpen the focus for economic development in terms of the City of Peterborough.”
For now, as the city staff report is prepared for council review and the county committee meets to decide next steps, Lee says it’s business as usual at Venture North, PKED’s home in downtown Peterborough.
“We’ve got a mandate to support the growth of the economy and we’re going to do that,” Lee says. “We hope to get some clarity but we’ve got the best people in the business working on it (economic development and tourism). We’re going to help them continue to do that.”
PKED’s 2024 budget is $2.5 million, of which the city’s core funding share is $1,015,112 and the county’s core funding share is $790,038.
The city and county had also each budgeted $226,021 and $57,000 for physician recruitment services which have been supplied by PKED on behalf of the city and county for a number of years. However, last November, city councillors expressed concerns that PKED’s physician recruitment efforts were not effective and voted to withhold the funding until PKED and city staff could report back on options for physician recruitment and, the following month, PKED opted to no longer be involved in physician recruitment.
PKED was originally founded in 1998 as the Greater Peterborough Area Development Corporation, arising from the recommendations of the 1997 GPA 2020 A Vision For Our Future Report, which in part proposed a new regional approach to economic development in the City and County of Peterborough.
Governed as a private-public non-profit partnership corporation by a board of directors that included elected officials, municipal appointees and private sector business leaders, the organization amalgamated the services and budgets of six separate organizations: the Greater Peterborough Economic Council, the City of Peterborough Economic Development, the County of Peterborough Economic Development, the Peterborough-Kawartha Tourism and Convention Bureau, the Peterborough Industrial Development Corporation, and the Provincial Business Self-Help Office.
The organization used funds previously invested by the City and County of Peterborough in the above organizations and augmented its capabilities by sourcing additional community investment from the provincial and federal governments and the private sector.
In 2005, the Greater Peterborough Area Development Corporation was officially renamed as the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation. In 2017, it rebranded as PKED when the organization relocated both its corporate office (including the Business Advisory Centre located at 210 Wolfe Street) and the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Tourism Visitor Centre (located at 1400 Crawford Drive) to the then-new Venture North building at 270 George Street North.
Conceived as a business hub, that building also houses all other local economic development organizations, including Community Futures Peterborough, the Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas, and — as of May 1 — the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area.
