Residents with a vested interest in Clarenville’s economic future met last month to throw around ideas for the Town’s upcoming Strategic Economic Plan (SEP).
Douglas Barill, Clarenville’s economic development officer, said he tried to keep the 20 people at the meeting focused on the future.
“If you get (people) into a room and ask them how Clarenville is, especially about the economy, it turns into a 45 minute debate about the past; all the wrongs of the past,” he said. “So I tried to focus everyone on the future and where we’re going to go from that.”
He noted everyone left the meeting with a clear vision of what the SEP process will entail.
Barill was hired in July to expand the town’s business community.
Keith Rodway, Clarenville town councilor, told the Packet in July that Council saw a need for a full-time position to work the Clarenville Area Chamber of Commerce to track down and develop economic opportunities.
“There’s great opportunities out there for Clarenville. Success will come and will probably come quickly,” Rodway said.
The purpose of the meeting last month was to get stakeholders together to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to Clarenville’s economy, said Barill.
“We really got together and said, ‘Where are we going to go from here?’” he said. “Everyone pitched a bunch of ideas and that would be brought out throughout the SEP process.”
In order to meet the town’s full economic potential, businesses and organizations will be divided into between six and eight sectors — including the oil and gas industry, tourism and knowledge economy, to name a few.
Each sector will have a public meeting where comments and concerns can be raised.
“We’re going to being everyone in from the local area in (for) public meetings and we’re going to discuss these things,” Barill said. “All of those ideas are going to be fleshed out, just specifically by sector and those will all be wrapped up into the SEP.”
Sector specific meetings are expected to begin in October.
Barill hopes to see the SEP implemented by the end of the year.
mclarkson@thepacket.ca
.jpg)
.jpg)
